A personal beef with the infamous ground floor water fountain that might concern you too

Our human bodies are always in need of something, such as warmth or safety, but the primary thing we need to keep the wheels rollin’ is the ultimate substance itself: water. 

Even though we perhaps live our lives subconsciously under the threat of dehydration, U of T students are rather lucky because they have access to a variety of water fountains around their classrooms… except the times they don’t! 

Perhaps the quantity and accessibility of these dispensers is somewhat satisfactory, but the quality between different water fountains is ridiculous. While reusable bottle owners have a rather consistent experience in filling up their supplies from the downpouring stream located in the centre, those of us who need to kneel to take a sip from the curved stream of liquid by the side live our days not knowing how many drops we will get today. 

As a Cinema Studies student who spends so much of his time within Innis College, I want to call out the water fountain located on the ground floor. The water pressure is so bad that the water can’t even form its half-circle shape — it just pours down from the hole, making it impossible to drink. Within the first couple milliseconds after pressing the button, one may be tricked into thinking the flow will be enough to make the water drinkable today — but nope, the pressure immediately drops down, just like our expectations. 

A fellow student, Kadin (21), has developed a technique where he rhythmically taps the button in a start-stop fashion to momentarily squirt the water while he sips on the few drops he gets. It is a Sisyphean effort which I guess is better than succumbing to nihilism.

Worse still, it is the only fountain in the entire building. Even though the dispenser for bottles works in theory, it takes up such a long time to actually fill up that seeing several people line up before this monolith for minutes has become a common sight. And I know that the freaks who sip the water straight from the taps in the washrooms can no longer do it — as the basement floor is now closed down! 

Sometimes I find myself going to the water fountain by the Starbucks on Robarts’ second floor (the GOAT) to drink some water. While the water pressure is perhaps too high that it ends up absolutely soaking me during the process, there is a pleasure that can be derived from having access to so much of this wonderful liquid. 

I hope this piece will encourage some amendments about the water fountain.