Water fill stations on campus

The Walnut Valley Unified School District (WVUSD) facilities department installed six water bottle fill stations in 2020. According to surveys of 213 students and 36 teachers, 58.7 percent of students and 66.7 percent of teachers have used the fill stations this school year. Some benefits include saving money on not having to buy disposable water bottles and reducing plastic consumption. Of the students who have used the fill stations this school year, the most common water quality rating was a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being poor and 10 being excellent. Earlier this school year, special education teacher Bob Van Setten filled his water bottle filter with water from the E building fill station. He discovered black particles left in the bottom of the filter. “The one I use now is the B building, and that one seems the cleanest. I use it daily,” Setten said. According to a water test conducted by the Hoofprint, the water quality was detected to be moderately hard, with a participle per million (ppm) of 95. Moderately hard water is still safe to drink, but clogs up filters faster than soft water. “[The fill stations] reduce plastic in landfills, oceans, rivers and other places plastic waste ends up. This helps sustain the environment for future generations,” WVUSD Director of Maintenance, Operations, Transportation and Facilities Sam Sornoso said.