“Dripping water hollows out stone…

not through force but through persistence.” (Ovid)

I’m reporting this waaay late (no one should expect timeliness from this blog), but there are hints of movement on the pro-fountain front in my neck of the woods.  Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer last month released his FoodNYC: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System report, which includes a section on water (see pg 29).  Stringer’s recommendations include “Increase access to drinking water fountains while reducing the consumption of disposable plastic water bottles in New York City.” His goal is tripartite: Reduce Bottled Water Consumption; Increase the Number of Water Fountains;  Encourage the Sale of Water Canteens.

I couldn’t have said it better, but it remains to be seen if the mayor will adopt and implement Stringer’s recommendations. Same goes with the report, out on February 1, of the New York City Green Codes Task Force, which convened at the request of Mayor Bloomberg and City Council speaker Chistine Quinn to recommend changes to the laws and regulations affecting buildings in New York and identify impediments to green practices. The report inspires all manner of “who knew?” moments. (If doors on stairways were transparent and were left open, do you think more people would use the stairs? It’s certainly worth a try, if we could rejigger the building codes to allow it.)

As a nonarchitect, and someone who’s never had to think about building codes, I found the report thoroughly interesting. Especially (you knew this was coming) the part about water, a short bit that appears on page 23. “Issue: People buy and consume bottled water and sugary drinks, in large part, because there are not enough easily accessible water fountains. All bottled drinks stress the environment by wasting materials, using energy for transportation, and creating waste. Also, sugary drinks can contribute to chronic diseases. Recommendation: Increase the number of required drinking fountains, and also require that they include faucets for filling
bottles. Do not allow bottled water to substitute for fountains.”

This last part is important, because in some places it’s perfectly legal for bottled-water vending machines or kiosks to take the place of water fountains (sports arenas in Ohio and Florida were clobbered in the media for going with vendors rather than fountains).

So yes, these recommendations are just recommendations. Ellen Honigstock, a friendly neighborhood LEED architect who worked on two committees of the Task Force, told me,  “Various city agencies will incorporate items that can be changed without changes to laws, and various city council members will champion other measures to get them through.”

Drinking fountains aren’t hugely expensive, and private companies may be willing to sponsor either their construction or maintenance. It’s in the mid-50s here today: the thirsty season is nearly upon us.