Student Action

Not a drop to drink?:Report examines the state of water fountains on Canadian campuses

Posted: September 11, 2009

Mitch Gauven, September 10, 2009, TheVarsity.ca--Finding accessible drinking water on Canadian campuses may not be such an easy task, according to a report released by the Polaris Institute. Campus Water Fountains: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly graded universities based on student surveys from campuses across the country.

The University of Toronto nabbed a listing under the “good” category thanks to the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, noted for having a fountain on every floor.

“The university is very conscious of sustainability of the environment,” said Elizabeth Sisam, assistant vice-president for campus and facility planning. She said that all buildings at U of T are planned with fountains in mind.

The report’s author, Richard Girard, said the report is not a full audit. “We just targeted buildings constructed after 2000,” he told The Varsity, and one building listed under the “good” category doesn’t mean the entire campus gets the thumbs-up.

Girard says his report’s main purpose was to look at nationwide trends. One conclusion noted that a number of universities across Canada are skipping on installing new water fountains in order to cut costs. The Ontario building code requires new buildings to provide drinking water access within 100 metres of any work area, but having a tap in a bathroom as the central source for drinking water adheres to this building code.

The report went after bottled water consumption as well, concluding that a lack of fountains in public buildings force students, faculty, and staff to buy bottled water.

Some Canadian universities also sign exclusive deals with beverage companies: in 1995, the University of British Columbia was the first to sign such a contract with Coca-Cola., However, according to ancillary services director Ann McDonald U of T has no contracts with beverage companies.

Other universities go further. This March, the University of Winnipeg banned bottled water, becoming the first in Canada to do so. On September 8, Memorial University followed suit.