Students and teachers walk past the water fountains every day throughout HHS; however, no one uses them because of the assumption that they wouldn’t work if they were to try. After all, they’re wrapped in plastic, taped together or missing pieces. 

There are around 35 water fountains throughout the entirety of HHS, counting water filling stations. Of the 35 water fountains, about 23 of them don’t work at all, or well enough to be used comfortably. The conditions can vary from fully operational to borderline unusable. This creates an underlying question: Why do they not work?

Well, there are actually many reasons as to why the fountains are out of order at HHS, and the most common reason as to why they don’t work is because of their age and interior condition. “These water fountains leak and just aren’t used often. Father time has taken them,” vice Principal Steven Jablonski said.

“Similar to the wear and tear issue they faced, they remain in terrible condition because there just aren’t many replacement parts for them anymore,” Jablonski added. With some fountains being over 40 years old, repairs are out of the question for most of these water fountains.

Additionally to the lack of resources, decommissioning old water fountains can be a way to prevent use of fountains that may use old pipes containing lead. The school district regularly checks if water is safe for use. “We are required by law to conduct these tests, and none of the recent tests we did show that lead is in the water,” said Jablonski. “The last fountain that contained lead has been shut down and sealed indefinitely,” he added.

Jablonski shares his plans for the future of HHS water fountains. “The plan is to continue installing water filling stations to replace the old ones. After all, kids don’t use regular water fountains anymore.”