The cafeteria and the gym in the WJPS school building now have Elkay water fountains. Elkay is a US company that focuses on drinking solutions.
The new fountain also comes with an attached bottle refilling station. These stations have a counter which goes up by one every time 20 ounces of water is used, according to Elaky’s website.
Many seem to be using these stations, with one station counter displaying the number 400, implying that station has refilled 8,000 ounces of water.
WJPS 11th grader Landon Thai said, “The water dispensers were a great school addition to the school environment.”
WJPS teacher, Mr. Thompson, when asked if he would use these fountains, said that, “I don’t like breathing the air from the school; forget drinking the water.”
His reasoning being the dated structure of the old school building, claiming that the pipes “are old and probably corroded” and that “there’s asbestos and lead paint on the walls.”
According to the Elkay website, the filters are easily replaced, it is up to the standards of the National Sanitation Foundation, and the filters are able to remove lead and other dangerous contaminants from the water.
Photo by Ezra Flores
