A water bottle filling station installed on Feb. 19 in the Hayden Memorial Library may have prevented the use of over 300 disposable plastic bottles since its installation.
Public Services Librarian Sarah Bosler said the first fountain was installed on the library’s first floor due to the high student traffic. On average, the library gets about 300,000 people per year passing through their gates.
After receiving several student requests, the college steering committee initiated the process installing the water bottle filling station.
Director of Facilities and Construction Fred Diamond presented the idea to the Citrus College Foundation, which raises money for projects and events in the Citrus community.
The foundation board donated $20,000 for four more stations to be installed on campus.
Diamond said his department plans to construct water stations on the campus’ west and east ends, near the cafeteria and near the athletic fields.
The facilities department is still determining locations for the remaining stations.
“We are looking for an area where we can swap out an existing (water station), providing that their dimensions are all correct and it fits in properly,” Diamond said.
Diamond said older water stations will be replaced if they are in poor condition. Water stations in better conditions will be saved as a replacement in case another station breaks.
Public Services Librarian Sarah Bosler said students surveyed in April 2017 reported they wanted a filtered water bottle refilling station in the library.
Although Bosler submitted a request for the station to the Sustainability Committee and Facilities on May 2017, she said both requests were delayed.
“But I’m really glad we have it,” Bosler said. “I think it will raise awareness about environmental issues on campus, because we require students to use library friendly containers… I think it’s good because it helps promote the use of those kinds of containers, so they don’t spill on the floor.”
The fountain chosen, Elkay EZH20, has a unit cost of $2,941.75 and installation cost of $1,800.
Foundation director Christina Garcia said although they plan to install them by the end of this academic semester, the plan might be affected by other facilities projects.
“These stations will reduce single-use water bottle waste, which is pretty high nearly everywhere,” Garcia said in an email. “Having the stations is a priority for the campus, and the Foundation directors were more than pleased to assist with this specific project because it has such strong alignment with the college sustainability plan.”
Environmental science professor Robert Goodman said it is important people have their own reusable containers instead of disposable plastic bottles.
“Plastics have a tendency to either end up in landfills and our oceans, where they biodegrade, and the components found within those plastics are now found in our food chain in the foods that we eat,” Goodman said. “Even mussels and clams, and other filter feeders have also had microscopic components of the plastic inside of them, and once we eat them, then they are inside of us.”
Goodman said we could also increase our recycling on campus.
“We pretty much all know what we need to do, but we have to go out of our way to make it user friendly for everybody,” Goodman said.
Environmental Health Programs Supervisor Jeffrey Eichler said the water station was a “great idea.”
“Students have already expressed delight as its existence,” Eichler said.
Eric Jeffries, biology major, started bringing his own water container after he discovered the water bottle filling station in the library.
“Bringing this (container), as opposed to bringing a bottle or something like that, is always easier and cheaper,” Jeffries said. “Having it out there just increase the convenience.”
