This week a Hydration Station was installed inside Patchwork’s Meetinghouse. Already, it’s a hit with all of our guests.
The station dispenses chilled water that has been purified through a reverse osmosis system. It was installed at Patchwork through a collaboration with Hydration Station Evansville, which is an organization founded by college student Jack Deig as part of the UE Changemaker Challenge. The goal of Hydration Station Evansville is to place easily accessible water dispensing units throughout Evansville for a healthier, more hydrated community.
Not only do our guests benefit from access to purified water, the Hydration Station also encourages the use of reusable containers instead of single-use bottles of water. To facilitate everyone’s usage of the station, the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility has provided us with water bottles to distribute to anyone who would like one.
On the first day of its operation, the Hydration Station received a lot of positive comments as everyone tried it out. Everyone agreed that the purified water that it dispenses tastes better than regular tap water and that they would be more likely to drink more water because of this.
One man commented that because of some ongoing health issues his children are “always on me to drink more water.” After trying some of the purified water, he decided that it tasted good—good enough to want to fill up a water bottle and drink it throughout the day. He joked that the purified water was good for his health and would “get my kids off my back.”
The water dispenser is easy to operate, and in the afternoon the kids in the Arts & Smarts Program have enjoyed walking over to the machine whenever they’re thirsty to fill up their cups.
Everyone recognizes the Hydration Station as something nice and kind of fancy. Some of our guests worried that it’s too fancy. They asked, “What happens when the filters need to be changed? What happens when it needs maintenance? Will someone be able to fix it? Or will it go away?”
We’re glad that the partnership with Hydration Station Evansville means that there is a team available to keep the station in good working order. Their belief is that purified water should be available everywhere to everyone. It shouldn’t be a luxury. We’re glad to be part of this new way to improve the health and quality of life for everyone in our community.