HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a
fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were or ...
designed to provide
drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ag ...
. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and swallows water directly from the stream. Modern indoor drinking fountains may incorporate
filter Filter, filtering or filters may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream * Filter (video), a software component that ...
s to remove impurities from the water and chillers to lower its temperature. Drinking fountains are usually found in public places, like schools, rest areas, libraries, and grocery stores. Many jurisdictions require drinking fountains to be wheelchair accessible (by sticking out horizontally from the wall), and to include an additional unit of a lower height for children and short adults. The design that this replaced often had one spout atop a refrigeration unit.


History

Before potable water was provided in private homes, water for drinking was made available to citizens of cities through access to public fountains. Many of these early public drinking fountains can still be seen (and used) in cities such as Rome, with its many ''fontanelle'' and ''nasoni'' (big noses).


Nepal

In Nepal there were public drinking fountains at least as early as 550 AD.Disaster Risk Management for the Historic City of Patan, Nepal by Rits-DMUCH, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan and Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University,Kathmandu, Nepal, 2012 They are called ''
dhunge dhara A dhunge dhara ( ) or hiti ( Newari: ) is a traditional stone drinking fountain found in Nepal. It is an intricately carved stone waterway through which water flows uninterrupted from underground sources. Dhunge dharas are part of a comprehensive d ...
s'' or ''hitis''. They consist of carved stone spouts through which water flows uninterrupted from underground sources. They are found extensively in Nepal and some of them are still operational. Many people of Nepal rely on them for their daily water supply. The ''
tutedhara A ( Nepali) or ( Newari) is a traditional drinking fountain found in Nepal. It is a water reservoir built out of stone with a tap that can be opened and closed. These structures are either free-standing or integrated into the wall of another bu ...
'' or ''jahru'' is another type of old drinking fountain found in Nepal. This is a stone container that can be filled with water and has a tap that can be opened and closed. The oldest of these is dated 530 AD. Very few jahrus are in use today, but the remnants can be found in many places.Jarunhiti
by Akira Furukawa (ed.), Sukra Sagar Shrestha, Amrit Bajracharya and Kanako Ogasawara, Vajra Books, Nepal, 2010,


United Kingdom

In mid-19th century
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
, when water provision from private
water companies The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry doe ...
was generally inadequate for the rapidly growing population and was often contaminated, a new law created the
Metropolitan Commission of Sewers The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was one of London's first steps towards bringing its sewer and drainage infrastructure under the control of a single public body. It was absorbed by the Metropolitan Board of Works on 1 January 1856. Format ...
, made water filtration compulsory, and moved water intakes on the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...
above the sewage outlets. In this context, the public drinking fountain movement began. It built the first public baths and public drinking fountains. In 1859 the Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association was established. The first fountain was built on Holborn Hill on the railings of the church of
St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Holy Sepulchre London, formerly and in some official uses Saint Sepulchre-without-Newgate, is the largest Anglican parish church in the City of London. It stands on the north side of Holborn Viaduct across a crossroads from the Old Bailey, and ...
on Snow Hill, paid for by Samuel Gurney, and opened on 21 April 1859. The fountain became immediately popular, and was used by 7,000 people a day. In the next six years 85 fountains were built, with much of the funding coming directly from the association. The provision of drinking fountains in the United Kingdom soon became linked to the
temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emp ...
; the same association in London drew support from temperance advocates. Many of its fountains were sited opposite
public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
s. The evangelical movement was encouraged to build fountains in churchyards to encourage the poor to see churches as supporting them. Many fountains have inscriptions such as "Jesus said whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again but whosoever drinketh of the water I shall give him shall never thirst". By 1877, the association was widely accepted and
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
donated money for a fountain in
Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...
. Many fountains, within London and outside, were called temperance fountains or would have a representation of the Greek mythical figure Temperance.


France

After many of the aqueducts were destroyed after the siege of Paris in the 1870s, the Parisian poor had no access to fresh water. Richard Wallace, an Englishman, used the money from an inheritance to fund the construction of 50 drinking fountains (ever after known as ‘
Wallace fountain Wallace Fountains are public drinking fountains named after, financed by and roughly designed by Sir Richard Wallace. The final design and sculpture is by Wallace's friend Charles-Auguste Lebourg. They are large cast-iron sculptures scattered th ...
s’). Designed by Charles-Auguste Lebourg with four caryatids atop a green cylindrical base, these fountains have become iconic symbols of Paris.


United States

Muddied and bad tasting drinking water encouraged many Americans to drink alcohol for health purposes, so temperance groups constructed public drinking fountains throughout the United States following the Civil War. The National
Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international Temperance movement, temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social ref ...
(NWCTU)'s organizing convention of 1874 encouraged its attendees to erect the fountains in their hometowns, as a means to discourage people from drinking in saloons. They sponsored temperance fountains in towns and cities across the United States. The
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective mea ...
, founded in 1866, expressed concern about the difficulty of finding fresh water for work horses in urban areas. Combined drinking fountains with a bubbler for people, a water trough for horses and sometimes a lower basin for dogs, became popular. In particular, over 120
National Humane Alliance fountains The National Humane Alliance fountains are a series of granite drinking fountains distributed by the National Humane Alliance, intended to provide fresh drinking water for horses, dogs, cats, and people. About 125 of the fountains were donated t ...
were donated to communities across the United States between 1903 and 1913. The original 'Bubbler' shot water one inch straight into the air, and the excess water ran back down over the sides of the nozzle. During World War I, company founder Halsey W. Taylor invented the "Double Bubbler" drinking fountain. This fountain dispensed two streams of water in an arc. Several years later the Bubbler adopted this more sanitary arc projection, which also allowed the user to drink more easily from it. At the start of the 20th century, it was discovered that the original vertical design was related to the spread of
contagious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dis ...
. In the United States, segregation of public facilities including but not limited to water fountains due to race, color, religion, or national origin was abolished by the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requi ...
. Prior to this, racially segregated water fountains with those for black people in worse condition than those for white people were common.


Cleanliness

In recent studies, it has been found that some drinking fountains have been contaminated with
pathogens In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a ger ...
such as bacteria. In one study, a virus commonly known to cause diarrhea in young children, known as the rotavirus, has been found on drinking fountains in child
day care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
facilities. Due to cases in the past where children have fallen ill due to
coliform bacteria Coliform bacteria are defined as either motile or non-motile Gram-negative non- spore forming Bacilli that possess β-galactosidase to produce acids and gases under their optimal growth temperature of 35-37°C. They can be aerobes or facultativ ...
poisoning, many governments have placed strict regulations on drinking fountain designs. The vertical spout design is now illegal in most US jurisdictions. Some governments even require water spouts to be as long as four inches to meet health standards. It is also recommended for young children to allow drinking fountains to run before drinking, as the water may also be contaminated with
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, l ...
. This is especially common in older buildings with obsolete
plumbing Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling (HVAC), waste removal, and potable water delivery ...
. In the 1970s, this fear of contamination in tap water was hyped by producers of
bottled water Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., well water, distilled water, mineral water, or spring water) packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not. Sizes range from small single serving bottles to large ca ...
, thereby changing attitudes to publicly provided water in drinking fountains, which began to disappear from city streets.


Terminology

The term ''bubbler'' is used in some regional
dialects The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...
of the United States and in Australia. A survey of US dialects undertaken between 2002 and 2004 found the word ''bubbler'' is commonly used in southern and eastern Wisconsin and in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The phrase ''drinking fountain'' was common in the rest of the inland north and in the west, while ''water fountain'' dominated other parts of the country. The term ''bubbler'' is sometimes used in the
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, region where in the early 1900s former Wisconsin resident
Simon Benson Simon Benson (September 9, 1851 – August 5, 1942) was a noted Norwegian-born American businessman and philanthropist who made his mark in the city of Portland, Oregon. Biography Background Simon Benson was born Simen Bergersen Klæve in th ...
installed 20 fountains, which are now known in the Portland area as "
Benson Bubbler Benson Bubblers are iconic bronze drinking fountains named after businessman and philanthropist Simon Benson (1852–1942), mostly located in Portland, Oregon, United States. In 1912, Benson donated $10,000 for the purchase and installation of 20 ...
s". Currently, there are 52 of these iconic four-bowl drinking fountains still providing free-flowing water in downtown Portland.


Frost-resistant drinking fountains

Frost-resistant drinking fountains are used outdoors in cold climates and keep the control mechanisms below the frostline resulting in a delay for when water comes out.


Drinking fountains as public goods

Most drinking fountains are freely available, however there are exceptions. Many private individuals in Armenia install pulpulaks (Armenian name for drinking fountain) in their yards or neighborhoods for various reasons, which include honoring dead relatives/friends or giving back to the community. In Nepal, the construction of water conduits like
dhunge dhara A dhunge dhara ( ) or hiti ( Newari: ) is a traditional stone drinking fountain found in Nepal. It is an intricately carved stone waterway through which water flows uninterrupted from underground sources. Dhunge dharas are part of a comprehensive d ...
s, dug wells and
tutedhara A ( Nepali) or ( Newari) is a traditional drinking fountain found in Nepal. It is a water reservoir built out of stone with a tap that can be opened and closed. These structures are either free-standing or integrated into the wall of another bu ...
s is considered a pious act. This applies to kings and other dignitaries as well as to ordinary citizens.Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley, Text. 1
by Mary Shepherd Slusser, Princeton University Press, 1982, retrieved 1 March 2020
UN-HABITAT, 2007. Water Movement in Patan with reference to Traditional Stone Spouts
Construction of Traditional Water Supply System in Bhaktapur
by Sudarshan Raj Tiwari, 2014, retrieved 10 March 2020


Gallery

File:Trinkbrunnen im Volkspark F'hain, 2017-03-27, ama fec.jpg, Drinking fountains in Berlin (in German Trinkbrunnen) File:The Dolphin Fountain, Avenham Park, Preston-geograph-4315120.jpg, Drinking fountain, Avenham Park, Preston, Lancashire File:Milano fontanella verde.jpg, Draghi Verdi (Green Dragons) in Milan, there are 480 of them File:047 Font del noi dels càntirs, pl. Urquinaona.jpg, Font del Noi dels Càntirs, Barcelona File:Nag Pokhari, Bhaktapur Durbar Square3.jpg, Guilded drinking fountain in Bhaktapur, Nepal File:Drinking fountain Amsterdam.jpg, Drinking fountain at the western entrance of Sarphatipark, Amsterdam


See also

*
Benson Bubbler Benson Bubblers are iconic bronze drinking fountains named after businessman and philanthropist Simon Benson (1852–1942), mostly located in Portland, Oregon, United States. In 1912, Benson donated $10,000 for the purchase and installation of 20 ...
*
Dhunge dhara A dhunge dhara ( ) or hiti ( Newari: ) is a traditional stone drinking fountain found in Nepal. It is an intricately carved stone waterway through which water flows uninterrupted from underground sources. Dhunge dharas are part of a comprehensive d ...
* Nasone * Pulpulak *
Temperance fountain A temperance fountain was a fountain that was set up, usually by a private benefactor, to encourage temperance, and to make abstinence from beer possible by the provision of clean, safe, and free water. Beer was the main alternative to water, a ...
*
Tutedhara A ( Nepali) or ( Newari) is a traditional drinking fountain found in Nepal. It is a water reservoir built out of stone with a tap that can be opened and closed. These structures are either free-standing or integrated into the wall of another bu ...
*
Water cooler A water dispenser, known as water cooler (if used for cooling only), is a machine that dispenses and often also cools or heats up water with a refrigeration unit. It is commonly located near the restroom due to closer access to plumbing. A drain ...


References


External links

* {{commons category, Drinking fountains, lcfirst=yes
Fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were or ...
Plumbing Articles containing video clips Street furniture