Imagine going to drink from a public water fountain. Mouth quenched of thirst, right when you take your first sip… BOOM! You wake up in a hospital bed, and doctors say you’ve fallen unconscious. They’ve taken a blood test, and high amounts of lead have been found in your blood. Water fountains are an extremely dangerous hazard, and we as a whole need to fix them. Studies such as “Are Water Fountains Safe? Water Quality and Hygiene” say robust filters can filter out the bad microplastics and kill deadly germs. We need the federal government to make sure that city workers can implement this advanced device, along with monthly cleaning checks to keep the fountain germ-free.
Did you know a toilet seat is safer than a water fountain? Studies from Clean Fax showed that a public water fountain has 50,000 times as many bacteria as a toilet seat. Far too many people are in danger due to the unsafe conditions of water fountains. Not just the quality of the water, but it gets recycled back up the fountain. The article “Flint Water Crisis” by Michael Ray from Britannica.com explains how Flint Hospitals sent out messages that the public water fountains were too dangerous due to high amounts of lead found in blood tests. As a result, kids and adults have ruined their digestive systems or have been hospitalized. Another article titled “How Sanitary is Drinking From a Water Fountain?” explains that fountains have been found to be unsafe and a hub for germs and bacteria. Ultimately, public water fountains are a serious danger to humanity. If we as a whole don’t try to fix this together, we won’t be a safe community. Countless people will get sick from many diseases, such as E. coli, Norovirus, and Legionella. If we don’t do anything about it, it’ll be COVID all over again.
Robust filters are important for improving the fountain quality. As mentioned in “Are Water Fountains Safe? Water Quality and Hygiene” by the OASIS Team, the robust filter is an advanced technology item that can improve water quality and make the water better to drink. Implementing this device in water fountains will create a safer community. It also reduces lead, dangerous bacteria, microplastics, and chlorine. As a result, our fountains will improve, and water fountains won’t be a safety hazard. In the article “Make Public Drinking Fountain Great Again” by Rapichan Phurisabman and Peter Gleick, improving fountain technology can improve water quality, making it safe to drink on a daily basis. Instead of the old pump technology, upgrade it to something better, more futuristic, and efficient. Eventually, public water fountains will go from a germ colony to a safe drinking base where no one has to get sick or severely hurt. If the federal government enforces higher standards for water fountains and city workers implement this, no one will have to deal with the dangers of this structure.
In conclusion, water fountains are and will be a dangerous threat to the earth unless we as a community do something to help fix it, whether we protest for the federal government to get city workers to help with safety. Children and Adults are all in danger of lead poisoning and large amounts of bacteria, which can mess up their IQ and brain development, as found on Research Gate. I envision a time in the world where everyone can drink from fountains and not fear every time they drink from a fountain that they’ll get sick.
