Toronto throws away tens of millions of water bottles every year, yet Toronto has some of the best tap water in the world.
Only 20 years ago, water bottles were rare, found in “fancy” carbonated waters from Europe or some other speciality brand. What did people do when the got thirsty? Pop or juice maybe? Sure sometimes, but they often turned to a public drinking fountain to quench their thirst. And because of the need, drinking fountains existed in public places inside and out. In fact, like those in Portland, they often contributed to the public realm with their ornate design.
Today many of these drinking fountains have fallen victim to budget cuts or have been taken out without any outcry to save money or space as the need is filled with bottle water.
Besides the environmental effect of producing all those non-reusable bottles, is the fact that the presence of drinking fountains contributes to the public domain and act as a statement about a community’s commitment to public space and the encouragement of people to use it.
While most people can find the money to buy water, what does it say about a society that removes easy sources of water and encourages the commodification of one of the essentials of life?
Some cities like Portland have invested in their public water fountain network and not just with old clunky ugly fountains, but nice classic four bowl varieties that can be found on almost every block in the areas of high pedestrian volumes. And if you sit and watch, they’re heavily used by every sort of passerbys from the suit clad businessperson to the young alternative street musician and everyone in between.
Now unless Portlanders drink more water per capita than us Torontonians, it seems logical to assume that the drinking fountains are offsetting bottle water consumption. Not only is this good for the environment, but since most municipal tap water has better quality control and because it isn’t stored in PETE plastic bottles, it also avoids BPA contamination. People drinking from drinking fountains helps the environment, while helping them avoid nasty chemicals and, of course, save money.
Drinking fountains are not cheap. Installing new drinking fountains costs around $50,000 for a basic model due to the need to produce sturdy models and connections costs to the water system.
Toronto has recently used advertising revenue from street advertising to fund an extensive street furniture program, including self-contained washrooms. While drinking fountains were not included, this seems like the sort of thing that should be included in street furniture programs along with bus shelters, benches, garbage bins, etc.
Observations of the use of Portland’s public drinking water shows that if you build it, they will come…and drink.
Adam Giambrone, former TTC Chair and Toronto City Councillor, is a community activist, board member for the Toronto Fashion Incubator, and a regular commentator on SunTV.
first photo by Tim Green from Flickr (cc)
second photo used with permission by Denice Giambrone
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