What is a green water fountain and why does it make me so happy?

What is a green water fountain and why does it make me so happy?


They started putting in green water fountains at work recently and I was thrilled when the water fountain near my office broke so I could request it be replaced with a green one.


It is not green in the sense of the color, but green in the sense of being better for the environment.  I doubt it is any better for the environment, but I am still happy about it.  I think what makes it green is the fact that it has a digital readout that tells you how many water bottles haven’t gone to the land fill as a result of the water fountain.  It seems like a very generous counter since when I fill my bottles it counts as numerous bottles.  


What I like about it most, though, is that it does have filtered water and even a set of lights that indicate if the filter is still okay just like the filter for a refrigerator.  I used to always bring filtered water from home or tote in water bottles to make coffee with because I did not trust the tap water, now I am happy to trust this filtered water.  


I also like the fact that the fountain has a sensor allowing you to use it hands free, but that is more the germ phobe in me than the coffee lover that appreciates that feature.  


I wonder if even ancient water fountains have filters in them, though as I did notice that the water tasted much better out of the old water fountain than the tap water out of the sink 15 feet from it.  It was colder and perhaps that was the reason, but perhaps there was a filter and I just never knew it.  


In either event I am thrilled to not be dragging large, heavy bottles of water back and forth any more.  


Oh, and the taste of the coffee – I see no drop off with the new filtered water over the old water I used to bring in, so I am even happier.


In case you are counting in the 10 days it has been installed we’ve saved over 500 bottles of water (and no that was not all on my coffee alone).

/files/u2065/fountain.jpg" width="360" height="480" />

Here is the cool hands free feature.  (Yes I am always paranoid about germs)

/files/u2065/fountain2.jpg" width="360" height="480" />

and the feel good about yourself bottle saver counter.

/files/u2065/fountain_counter.jpg" width="124" height="166" />