This article was written by Journalism students Grace Cannella and Lexi Briskie.
Water is essential for life and everyone needs to drink it. While at school, water fountains are important for the people at U-32.
Drinking Water Requirements
U-32 water comes from the Montpelier watershed. This water originates from Berlin Pond. Getting the water from Berlin Pond requires effort from a lot of different systems and people.
Megan Young works for the Drinking Water and Groundwater Protection Division. She said, “It’s not just as easy as turning on your tap and having safe water. It does require a lot of operators, time, [and] town employees, to maintain the water system.”
It takes a lot of work to keep drinking water safe. Drinking water in the US is regulated by the EPA Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires drinking water to meet certain standards. This was passed in Congress in 1974, and the laws were amended in 1986 and 1996. This requires states to regulate where their water comes from. These standards work together to make sure the water people drink is safe.
Drinking water is required to be filtered and disinfected. This requires treatment facilities that filter out bad bacteria. The construction of pipes is necessary to distribute water from facilities. These pipes flow from Berlin pond to the facilities, then to the houses and businesses.
Water systems are required by the Safe Drinking Water Act to periodically test the water in the different areas. Instead of testing every faucet in the whole town, Megan said,”[people] take samples that are representative of that area of the water system, so U-32 may not be sampled, but a house in the area may be.”
One thing that is tested for is coliform. This bacteria can cause illness if people drink water with excessive amounts in it.
Water Main Breaks
Megan Young describes the Montpelier watershed like a bowl. “The source and treatment plant are up here, and it flows downhill to the center of town, and then flows back uphill to other parts of town.” With this gravity, the water can gain a lot of power.
Montpeliers water will burst with increased pressure. Flowing down these hills increases the water pressure. Megan describes this process by saying, “As it’s flowing down from the treatment plant into the center of town, it picks up speed.” This speed creates a higher pressure and, “…Fast moving water in the pipes can cause older pipes to burst.” When main pipes burst, this makes the water main break, which is why U-32 has has so many issues with water.
Water is essential for drinking, bathrooms and making meals at U-32. Students and staff have to go home early because “We can go without water, but not for a long period of time,” Becca said. U-32 has to close school after a certain amount of time because there is no water. Becca says this water is most important for sanitation and bathroom use.
Water main breaks have become more and more prevalent lately. When the water main breaks in Montpelier, the water doesn’t work at U-32. This has had an effect on the school, because in Becca Tatistcheff’s words, “No water, no school.”
Students’ Opinions on Water Fountains
Students at U-32 have opinions on which water fountain is the best. Students debate what makes them the best. Temperature is the most common deciding factor of which fountain is better.
Adeline Cannella and Isobel Koger are both juniors at U-32. They agree on their favorite two fountains around campus. The one at the top of the atrium stairs, and the one by the cafeteria. Their reasoning for this, “I think I like the coldest water fountain because it tastes better,” said Adeline.
In addition to temperature, Cody Young, a junior, has a different reason for liking the water fountain that he does. Cody’s favorite water fountain is the one by the track shed. “[I] like the little squirt thing, the hose thing, the spout,” he said. This is not a typical water fountain but it can still be considered as one because it provides drinking water to everyone at U-32.
Cody loves this water because, “That is the coldest water and it has the most flow. And sometimes you can get a good laminar flow.“ This flow satisfies him.
Students at U-32 say the warm water fountains are the worst. Stella Stoufer, a junior, agrees. She said,”I feel like every single water fountain is always warm and they taste funky.”
Isobel Koger comments on the fountain by the gyms and theater. “It tastes like bath water,” she said.
Becca Tatistcheff, the principal at U-32, usually brings her water from home. When she runs out, she fills up with the tap water.
Middle School Students Science Experiment
Jason Woodards middle school class is conducting an experiment. They are testing water fountains for which have the highest and lowest temperatures.
They are also experimenting with the water quality of all the water fountains around U-32, taking down notes of the filter status and if it has anything to do with the water temperature.
There are many interesting and unexpected results regarding the temperatures.
It was originally believed that the water fountain by the cafeteria was the coldest, yet that theory was disproved when temperatures were taken.
Lexi Briskie/Chronicle
While the water fountain by the cafeteria was 55.35°F, the water fountain at the top of the highschool stairs was 54.76°F. This means the cafeteria filling station is a close second, differing by 0.59°.
Survey Data Analysis
A survey was sent out to the whole U-32 school. Staff, high school and middle school students were surveyed. They ranked every water fountain in the school, one star being the worst, and five stars being the best.
There are a couple reasons for these high ratings. Lei DeGroot, a junior at U-32, said , “[It] tends to be cooler than the other fountains.”Whether or not a fountain can fill water bottles is also a factor. Lauren Melkonian, a staff member at U-32, said “[It]is cold and has a water bottle filler.” People love these water fountains the most out of the whole school.
The lowest ranked water fountain is the one by the English hallway, getting only 2.06 stars. This water fountain does not have a water bottle filler. According to another U-32 student, Sierra Abare, the water is warm. “Water usually isn’t ‘freezing’ but it’s not usually ‘hot’,” she said.
Water Is Needed for All Life
Water is very important for all living things. All living things need water. Water has a chemical makeup which makes it very valuable. Water contains two Hydrogen and one oxygen atom. Water is a polar molecule, which means it has regions of negative and positive charge.
There are also hydrogen bonds that water can form with other water molecules, which gives it many important properties. These properties include surface tension, adhesion/cohesion, and managing temperature.
Christine Fitch, a science teacher at U-32, said water is one of the most important things for life. Her chemistry classes are doing a unit on this topic. They are seeing if it is possible for life forms to live in places other than earth.
Christine said NASA is doing a habitability mission to Europa, a moon. “So could there possibly be life there because of water?” She wonders.
Water is Valuable
Water is one of the most important worldwide necessities. No matter who you are, you need water. Water is difficult to get in the cafeteria. People’s spots get stolen when getting up for a drink of water.People at U-32 have opinions about how hard it is to access water in some parts of the school.
Cody Young thinks that the cafeteria is the hardest place to get water. They serve milk for lunch, but there is a water fountain right outside of the room. He thinks this is a difficult place to have it.
Cody has had people take his chair while getting up to get a drink of water. This is why he thinks there should be “a greater way for students to consume water while eating lunch, even just connecting a hose to each table.” After all, he said, “Water is one of the greatest inventions in human history.”
