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News

Water bottle refill stations go unnoticed

Krystal Kehoe - Investigative Editor

Six new water bottle refill stations were installed around campus late this past fall, but have largely gone unnoticed due to their flat design and a lack of signage, said Tom Owen, TRU director of environment and sustainability.

The new water bottle refill stations were installed to give students a choice in the bottled water versus tap water debate.

“There’s a lot of concern about the use and disposal of bottled water, so we decided to make it easier for students and faculty to use re-usable bottles,” Owen said.

But the new refill stations on campus are hard to find Owen said. He said that the new stations fit flat against the wall and do not stick out like the water fountains do around campus. The stations also do not have any signage, but there are plans for signage in the near future.

TRU has chosen not to ban bottled water on campus, because they wanted students and faculty to have a choice. The environmental advisory committee agreed, after a detailed analysis, that bottled water is extremely harmful to the environment, but decided that it was best to give people easier access to local tap water.

“Students and the rest of us are mature. They should make their own decisions. What we are trying to do is make it easier for people to make that decision,” Owen said.

This past September, TRU gave out 4500 re-usable water bottles at orientation, which included 1000 bottles given out by TRUSU, in hopes that students would be able to use the stations Owen explained.

TRU has roughly 50 locations around campus to refill water bottles which include the six new stations. Two were installed in Old Main, one in the Arts and Education building, one in the International building, one in the Science building, and one in the Trades building kiosk.

TRU has seen a reduction in the purchase of bottled water by between 12 to 15 per cent since September, explained Owen.

But, the lack of signage has meant that many students do not know the stations are there. Vanessa Obeng, a 2nd year TRU student, said that she did not know about the water bottle refill stations, but would use the stations if she knew where they were.

“Essentially, I won’t have to buy a coffee or tea, or buy a bottled water and waste,” Obeng said.

TRU will take part in a campaign March 11, aiming to have a bottled water free day on campuses across Canada. They will also be putting up signage around the refill stations and banners to let the students know where the stations are.

“I think, once we make it clear to people where those refill stations are, people will choose to use the refill station,” Owen said. “When people know that they have a choice of clean and good water, that is free, than that will increase the number of people who use them.”