ASASUD plans to implement new water-filtration systems on drinking fountains around the Downtown campus next semester in an effort to make the campus “greener” and save money for students.
The new filters will be installed in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation buildings, the Mercado buildings, the Walter Cronkite School, University Center and possibly in the first floor of Taylor Place, ASASUD President Christian Vasquez said.
“One of the things that downtown (Phoenix) prides itself on is being very sustainable,” Vasquez said. “So one of the things we wanted to do with ASASUD was make sure that … the campus was being sustainable as well.”
The goal of the filters, which are the first of their kind on any of ASU’s campuses, is to create cleaner, better tasting water for students and to encourage students to refill reusable water bottles instead of using plastic water bottles. Vasquez said that goosenecks — spouts that make filling up water bottles easier — will be added to the drinking fountains in addition to the normal water spout.
The filters are “a good idea, both in environmentally friendly terms and for overall student-health concerns,” ASASUD Sen. Michelle Lauer, of the Cronkite School, said. “And Phoenician water isn’t the nation’s finest.”
Jessica Houston, a nursing sophomore, described the new filters as nifty and said that she was happy to see ASASUD “bringing some of the sustainability from Tempe downtown.”
Besides cutting down the use of plastic water bottles, Vasquez said he hopes students will drink more water once the drinking fountains have filters.
“They’ll drink more water, which promotes health and wellness,” he said. “It’s just a fact, you know, that drinking more water can’t hurt you.”
Vasquez said adding the filters is a win-win situation. In addition to helping the environment and students’ health, he said, the filters could potentially also save students money if the students choose to refill water bottles instead of buying new ones. Vasquez added that ASASUD is considering purchasing reusable water bottles to hand out to students to encourage use of the new drinking fountains.
Journalism freshman Samantha Cary said she may stop using her Brita water filter and refill her water bottles using the drinking fountains instead to save money.
The filters will be installed by Culligan, a water filtration and treatment company that will also check the filters monthly during the two-year contract, Vasquez said.
The new filtration system will be installed at the beginning of the spring 2011 semester with no added fees or charges to students, Vasquez said.
Contact the reporter at evie.carpenter@asu.edu
