Let’s say you drink more than one bottle of water a day. Once you finish the first bottle, what do you do? Do you throw it away and whip out a brand new one or do you fill it up in the sink/water fountain? Most people find drinking from the average water fountain to be preposterous; as it is likely the equivalent of drinking from a murky puddle.

Wiregrass Ranch High School (WRHS) has replaced one fountain at the school with a Bottle Filling Station.

Anna Nelson, a freshman at WRHS, feels as though the new station has a positive impact on the school.

“I think it is really efficient and convenient,” said freshman Anna Nelson. “The water filler makes my day a little bit easier and is a cool way to stay hydrated and help save the planet, but with a twist.”

The newest addition to the school allows students and staff to step away from one of the Earth’s biggest pollutant: plastic. Instead, students and staff can bring reusable water bottles with them everyday, and not have to worry about filling them up with that preposterous fountain water; since the new filling station is filtered.

Yes,  you read that right.

Since the new fountain is filtered, there is no reason to be bringing disposable, Earth polluting, bottles to school ever again. According to Ecology Center, plastic puts a huge chemical burden on the environment. If, by chance, you do not have a re-useable bottle on hand, it is not the end of the world (yet). You can fill up your bottle with the station, and simply recycle it once its purpose if fulfilled.

Before the station was installed, the topic was discussed thoughtfully amongst the staff at WRHS. Vanessa Podkomorski, the sponsor for the Earth Club at WRHS, explained the process behind the instillation.

“The Earth Club wanted to create an atmosphere at WRHS that is environmentally sustainable. When coming up with ideas Mrs. Haqq (Earth Club co-sponsor) had the initial idea of getting a water bottle filler to reduce the amount of plastic usage. Once we talked to Ken Bruno (plant manager), he did all the work for us! He called district and found out that there were some in the warehouse. He put the order in for use and got it installed!” explained Podkomorski.

Hopefully, before we know it, the new and improved water fountain will flood into WRHS and replace all, if not most, of the ones that are currently at the school. WRHS is one step closer to saving the planet, thanks to this new feature. Hopefully it causes other schools to want to partake in this idea.

Podkomorski told about what WRHS can expect in the future.

“There will be more water bottle fillers placed in other areas of the school like the 400 building- it just is going to take time due to all of the logistics. Ken Bruno and Ms. White were able to take care of that for the school!” said Podkomorski.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Gabriele Alers

A closer look at how to use the bottle filling feature on the station.