By Josh Friesen
Public water fountains on campuses across the country are taking a hit, according to a recent Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives survey.
CCPA’s goal was to determine the extent of commercial and corporate presence on campuses. Of the survey’s respondents, 33 per cent reported a declining number of water fountains available on campus while 43 per cent noticed delays in making repairs to existing water fountains. Some groups are worried the observed drop in access to public drinking water is a symptom of greater corporate intervention on campus.
“This survey affirmed a bunch of things that we’ve been aware of,” said Polaris Institute research coordinator Richard Girard. “When you see the rise of the bottled industry, as well as the rise of beverage exclusivity contracts on campus coinciding with the diminishing number of functioning water fountains, you’ve got to ask [some] difficult questions.”
He wanted to know if it is possible for faculty and students’ access to free drinking water to be jeopardized by bottom-line driven corporations. Beverage exclusivity started to appear on campuses in Canada in the mid-1990s and they restrict campus vendors to selling beverages from only one company.
Both Pepsi and Coke began to offer these contracts to schools in exchange for sponsored events and scholarships. Recently, some students have become concerned about water fountains potentially being edged out by these companies’ bottled products. Third-year english major Paul Beriault complained bottled water was too expensive and environmentally unsound.
CCPA’s recent survey found no evidence of action taken to eliminate water fountains from any of the campuses studied. Nor were there any legal clauses in the beverage exclusivity contracts offered by Pepsi or Coke demanding the scrapping of water fountains.
U of C communications director Veronica Hoskins related a positive picture for water fountains.
“Our water fountains are actually being retrofitted,” said Hoskins.
Fifty-four have been redone in the science buildings alone and there are plans to improve all 225 currently on campus. Hoskins also asserted that her office received no complaints regarding the number of water fountains.
“The number of vending machines in our buildings has stayed constant for the last 11 years,” she said. “Only the products have changed.”
The U of C’s last contract with Pepsi ended in December 2007. A new contract was signed behind closed doors.