Water fountains to ‘go green’

Two Brita Hydration Stations are set to be installed this summer on the first floor of the Student Union and in the Red WOLF Center.

"The Brita Hydration Stations will help reduce water bottle waste," assistant director of student development facilities Shane Copeland said. "They'll provide free filtered water to the campus. It's touch free. All students have to do is hold their bottle or cup to the sensor and water will come out until they remove their bottle from the sensor."

The hydration stations will have filters that are designed to take out lead, odor, chlorine and other chemicals normally found in water.

"The University of Nevada is already using these hydration stations," Copeland said. "We are hoping that with these stations, we can cut down on bottle waste and these stations will also help in our going green projects we have around campus."

Dean of Student Development and Leadership Randall Tate thought of bringing the hydration stations to ASU while looking through College Planning and Management, a magazine that allows colleges to see what other colleges are doing to change things on their campuses.

Tate presented the hydration stations idea to the Student Government Association.

"We decided to sponsor a very small portion of the total cost for the water booths," SGA president Adrian Everett said. "The cost to maintain these machines will not come from the SGA budget but from other funds."

Each Brita Hydration Station will cost $3,400. SGA donated some money to the stations and the rest of the money will come from the Student Union funds.

Facilities Management will be installing the hydration stations hopefully this summer.

"It's all a matter of getting the money for them, ordering them and then receiving the stations so we can get them built," Copeland said.