Student Action

Canada: NDP accuses UBC of encouraging students to drink bottled water

The Vancouver Sun. By Allison Cross -

The University of B.C. is encouraging students and staff to drink bottled water by including few drinking fountains in its buildings while offering bottled water from vending machines, NDP health critic Adrian Dix said Tuesday.

Dix said he had toured a number of UBC buildings after noticing a dearth of drinking fountains and discovered a "significant" number of Dasani vending machines dispensing bottled water.

"All these new buildings essentially either have one, two, or no fountains at all," said Dix.

However, a senior university official said students can fill their cups or bottles with clean tap water in any washroom or lounge.

Dix said the Aquatic Ecosystem Research Laboratory, a multi-level building constructed in 2006, has no drinking fountains at all.

The Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Science, built in 2005, has no drinking fountains either, he said, but does have several beverage vending machines. The Swingspace Building, constructed in 2005, has no drinking fountains but two beverage-vending machines on its main floor.

Dix said students and staff should have easy access to free, clean water.

The lack of fountains is also inappropriate, he said, given that environmentally friendly schools and municipalities across the country are moving to ban plastic bottles.

But Geoff Atkins, UBC's associate vice-president of land and building services, said drinking fountains are not required under B.C. building codes. Unless a building user committee specifically requests fountains, there is no obligation to install them.

"We provide [drinkable] water at all of the outlets at UBC, just like the city of Vancouver," said Atkins. "I fill my water bottle up at the tap."

Students and staff can fill their bottles with clean, healthy water in any washroom or lounge, Atkins said.

He rejected the argument that students are forced to buy bottled water because of a lack of drinking fountains.

"I would think, with all I've heard from students, they are so strapped for money, they wouldn't spend anything on bottles of water," Atkins said.

Dix countered the university isn't focusing enough on the needs of students and the environment.

"And it's surprising, considering they put themselves forward as leader of the environment," he said. "It's really supporting bottled water. If you're a student, that's really difficult. Some students have lots of resources, and other students don't. There are low-income, high-cost years."

In 2004, when a graduate student noticed many fountains had been deemed unusable and were covered over. The university said at the time it couldn't afford to repair fountains.