Lethbridge launches drinking water stations to help beat the heat

Lethbridge has launched four new drinking water stations as a pilot project this summer

Four new drinking water stations have opened as part of a pilot project by the City of Lethbridge to help keep residents hydrated.

The four drinking water stations are part of a budget initiative launched by Lethbridge city councillor Nick Paladino.

"Access to drinking water is important to the general population but also, it’s perhaps most important to the vulnerable members of our community,” said Paladino, in a release. “I look forward see how the pilot progresses through the summer and how the community uses them."

The water stations are located in four different areas around the city, said water and wastewater project manager Jeremy Charlesworth.

"We based them on a design from the City of Edmonton and used an employee from the water treatment plant to assemble them and then used our crews to install them," said Charlesworth. "It's spring-loaded so you can turn it on and it'll automatically turn off."

Counc. Paladino, who proposed the stations, said he's happy to see the project come to fruition.

"It goes back to when we were running for council," Paladino said. "A couple candidates had mentioned to me that if you get elected, make sure they put water fountains in the parks and so that has stuck in my head."

VITAL FOR VULNERABLE POPULATION

Lethbridge Food Bank executive director Mac Nichol said the refill stations will be vital for the vulnerable population.

“Over the past few years, the food banks have teamed up with local organizations to try and source water in bottle form to give out,” Nichol said. “As great as that is, one, a water bottle goes very fast and two, it does create waste in our community sometimes so we're really happy to see these alterative measures being taken.”

The Lethbridge Food Bank and Interfaith Food Bank act as a collection site for bottled water during the summer. Donated water is then handed out to outreach teams that are walking the streets to hand out to those in need.

Nichol estimates they go through more than 1,000 water bottles each summer and the pilot project couldn't have come at a better time.

“As food banks we do pitch in and buy a few pallets of water to help make sure we have that demand met,” Nichol explained. “The worrisome part of that is we're down to about half a pallet of water already and we're not even half way through July yet.”

Other outreach groups hope more fountains will be installed, with a focus on the downtown area.

“I would like to see more housing, I’d like to see a better approach to encampments, but this is a step forward,” said Bill Ginther, executive director of the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen. “I think anything you do when you recognize homeless people are people is helpful.”

“My only concern is when we hand out bottled water, those bottles usually go missing, so I’d like to see paper cups attached to these refill stations to make sure people are able to access them,” Ginther added.

Along with bottled water, Streets Alive Mission is collecting reusable bottles to hand out to clients to help limit the amount of plastic being thrown out.

The four stations, which cost around $15,000, were designed and manufactured by staff at the city's water treatment plant.

The pilot program will be reviewed at the end of summer and brought back to council for information later this year.