Springs’ Water Fountains

By Yoselyn Bodes

 Are you ever thirsty on your way to class?  Well, don’t worry about dying of dehydration. You can have a quick drink and not suffer with having a dry mouth.  If you don’t drink enough water, your body won’t be able to handle it, and you will most likely end up getting fatigued.  A solution has come in schools.  You don’t need to spend money on a water bottle.  The pipes in schools, even if some are dirty, are used in order to produce fresh water for any water deprived human. You don’t have to worry about getting any E. coli or Salmonella either.  Schools try to prevent contaminants from entering the waters and from harming students. Although they fail sometimes, Some students believe that the plumbers are majorly at fault for not cleaning and changing the pipes. At Miami Springs Senior High, however, no one should worry about accidently drinking contaminants that are lurking in the water. The water fountains provide a filter that clears the fluid from any microbes. The school installed filters to protect students from unsuspecting bacteria that can potentially get them ill.  

  To Begin With, Miami springs has a filter in their water fountains that prevents harmful bacteria from entering the water system. This filtering of water was first started in 1912 by Halsey Taylor, he devoted his life to building a safe, non-squirting, fountain that humans can conveniently drink. Now as time has progressed these water fountains now have filters that extract contaminants from water.  According to Green America, A 2003 study by the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that due to a combination of pollution and deteriorating equipment and pipes, the public water supplies in 19 of America’s largest cities delivered drinking water that contained contaminant levels exceeding EPA limits (either legal limits or unenforceable suggested limits) and may pose health risks to some resident.” Since filters are implemented in Miami Springs water fountains, they are reducing the possibility of students getting sick. Filters are installed throughout all the water fountains in the school, so even if you have a weak immune system, it is not likely you will contract a disease. 

Moreover, People often are concerned with the safeness of drinking water from the fountains.  The New York times states, “According to a recent report on waterborne diseases in drinking water from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, several hundred illnesses and 14 deaths were associated with drinking water in 2011-12.” Since they are so likely to cause illnesses, people are skeptical in trying water fountains. The other day someone reported that while thirsty, they went to one of the water fountains in Springs and when they drink it, the water came out brown. The person said that they would most likely not drink from water fountains ever again in fear of getting sick from the waters. However, in that same website, it states “Many people seem to be nervous about drinking from water fountains, even though it is well known that the municipal water of all major American cities is nearly always carefully monitored for germs and is safe to drink. In most cities, the water that comes out of home taps, park fountains and sidewalk fire hydrants is exactly the same.” This statement shows that people are often skeptical about drinking from water fountains when the taps in their homes and their local outdoor water fountains come from the same source. The reason that it is safe to drink from the machine is because these fountains have filters which prevent from any contaminants from entering the water. Filters are placed around the school which almost always successfully helps in getting rid of bacteria. Even if any contaminants get in the water, the school will close off the water fountain until the filter is properly fixed.  

In conclusion, Water fountains are a convenient and safe machine that is used to make someone’s life easier.  No one has to worry about getting sick when drinking from Miami Springs’s water fountains as they provide a filter which gets rid of any bacteria. The pipes in the school have filters which comes in handy most of the times. Even if bacteria gets in the water, the school does their job in preventing students from drinking in that fountain and closes them until they fix the filters to provide clear and safe water for anyone to drink.