School District Completes Hydration Station Initiative to Ensure Safe, Accessible Water for Students in Every District School in the City

PHILADELPHIA — As part of The School District of Philadelphia’s first-ever sustainability plan, GreenFutures, the District has completed its yearlong effort to equip every school with hydration stations, with 725 hydration stations now in all 218 schools throughout the city.

“These hydration stations ensure all of our students have appealing and accessible drinking water,” said Fran Burns, the District’s Chief Operating Officer. “These resources will help improve water consumption among our students and encourage healthy habits both inside and outside the classroom.”

The initiative is part of a $1 million project launched in August 2016, designed to install every school with a minimum of three hydration stations by the end of the 2016-2017 school year.

The goal of the five-year GreenFutures plan is to provide well-resourced, clean, comfortable, healthy and safe school environments conducive to teaching and learning. Focus areas include education for sustainability; consumption and waste; energy and efficiency; school greenscapes; and healthy schools and healthy living.

In August 2016, the District’s Sustainability plan received the 2016 Sustain PHL Award for the Sustainable Communities Category and just this month received a $49,996 grant award from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

More information about the initiative can be found online at greenfutures.philasd.org.