Providing Students with Adequate School Drinking Water Access in an Era of Aging Infrastructure: A Mixed Methods Investigation
Autor: | Jill E. Carter, Rebecca S. Mozaffarian, Katherine Walsh, Steven L. Gortmaker, Erica L. Kenney, Rebekka M. Lee, James G. Daly |
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Rok vydání: | 2019 |
Předmět: |
Adolescent
Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis education Drinking Qualitative property schools infrastructure Water safety Article Water consumption 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Tap water Water Supply ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION Humans Urban district 030212 general & internal medicine Marketing Child Students Water delivery water safety 030505 public health drinking water Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Bottled water Child Preschool Business 0305 other medical science water consumption |
Zdroj: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Volume 17 Issue 1 |
ISSN: | 1660-4601 |
DOI: | 10.3390/ijerph17010062 |
Popis: | Ensuring students&rsquo access to safe drinking water at school is essential. However, many schools struggle with aging infrastructure and subsequent water safety problems and have turned to bottled water delivery systems. Little is known about whether such systems are feasible and effective in providing adequate student water access. This study was a mixed-methods investigation among six schools in an urban district in the U.S. with two types of water delivery systems: (1) tap water infrastructure, with updated water fountains and bottle fillers, and (2) bottled water coolers. We measured students&rsquo water consumption and collected qualitative data from students and teachers about their perceptions of school drinking water. Student water consumption was low&mdash between 2.0 (SD: 1.4) ounces per student and 2.4 (SD: 1.1) ounces per student during lunch. Students and teachers reported substantial operational hurdles for relying on bottled water as a school&rsquo s primary source of drinking water, including difficulties in stocking, cleaning, and maintaining the units. While students and teachers perceived newer bottle filler units positively, they also reported a distrust of tap water. Bottled water delivery systems may not be effective long-term solutions for providing adequate school drinking water access and robust efforts are needed to restore trust in tap water. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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