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The drinking fountain button

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Re: The drinking fountain button

#71

Post by mrWiz »

alistairSH wrote: post #66
tichiian wrote: post #2

I wish Europe had any drinking fountains. Even extremely-high-traffic public areas such as airports and train stations have but a few or (usually) none.

What countries do have them? In the US, they seem to exist in offices and schools. Airports tend to have them, and often with a bottle filler on the side, which is great since we can't carry water through security. But, just walking down the street, truly public water? Is that a thing anywhere in the US, or elsewhere?

They're also common in airports, malls, parks, and libraries. I can't think of any other spaces that typically have them.

Re: The drinking fountain button

#72

Post by Balgair »

alistairSH wrote: post #66
tichiian wrote: post #2

I wish Europe had any drinking fountains. Even extremely-high-traffic public areas such as airports and train stations have but a few or (usually) none.

What countries do have them? In the US, they seem to exist in offices and schools. Airports tend to have them, and often with a bottle filler on the side, which is great since we can't carry water through security. But, just walking down the street, truly public water? Is that a thing anywhere in the US, or elsewhere?

Wait, what US cities are you in that do not have public fountains in parks and whatnot?

I'm struggling to think of any parks or high pedestrian areas around me that don't have a public fountain, nor in any of the cities I've lived in. Like, yeah, you're not going to have a fountain out in the middle of a parking lot. But they, to my recollection, seem to be everywhere that people tend to be walking a lot.

As for Europe, they also tend to be in a lot of high pedestrian areas, but really only in southern Europe (Italy, Spain, etc). In northern Europe it seems that everyone is just fine with being constantly dehydrated.

Re: The drinking fountain button

#73

Post by kube-system »

piskov wrote: post #40
lambdaxyzw wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It’s only after the fall of the Soviet Union that shit with plastic poured into. As well with the fall of recycling, morals, etc. Soviet Union was green not because of morals, but because it was poor and couldn't afford single use packages. I remember when Nutella entered my country, the empty Nutella jars were washed, kept and used as glasses for drinking - because buying new glasses was hard or expensive. >And yes…

> the empty Nutella jars were washed, kept and used as glasses for drinking - because buying new glasses was hard or expensive. You do understand that sand is one of the most common things on earth (hence the glass is dirt-cheap). Just as an example of those mentioned faceted glasses: their price was 7 or 14 copecks (good thing every one of them had the price stamped on the bottom). It’s less than the price of bread.…

> You do understand that sand is one of the most common things on earth (hence the glass is dirt-cheap).

If only it worked this way I could finally afford a 4090

Re: The drinking fountain button

#74

Post by maxerickson »

alistairSH wrote: post #66
tichiian wrote: post #2

I wish Europe had any drinking fountains. Even extremely-high-traffic public areas such as airports and train stations have but a few or (usually) none.

What countries do have them? In the US, they seem to exist in offices and schools. Airports tend to have them, and often with a bottle filler on the side, which is great since we can't carry water through security. But, just walking down the street, truly public water? Is that a thing anywhere in the US, or elsewhere?

They are common in parks and recreational facilities in the US.

Re: The drinking fountain button

#75

Post by kube-system »

piskov wrote: post #11
082349872349872 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It amazes me that 1960s Moscow had drinking fountains with shared glasses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F68bbzOOOdY&t=1850s What were they thinking?

These are not fountains but glorified watercoolers with sparkling water and, sometimes, lemonade. Most of the time they were not free although very cheap: 1 copeck. These survived up to the 1995, several years after the fall. And yes, most glasses have never been stolen. Shared glasses were quite safe because every machine had special button to clean the glass with pressurized technical water (several calibrated jets…

> Meat was wrapped in paper. Milk, butter and sour cream were poured into whatever container buyer had provided.

These were both common in mid-century US too. These practices were slowly discontinued because other packaging was cheaper and more sanitary, especially as foods were packaged further away from the end consumer.

And when buying meat fresh at a butcher in the US, it's still fairly common to get it wrapped in paper.

Re: The drinking fountain button

#76

Post by Sane_And_Saner »

tnmom wrote: post #46
chiffre01 wrote: post #45

Maybe it's just me, but it looks like every fountain turned off during during the pandemic will never to be turned back on?

Just you; in my comparatively sane state most were never turned off and those that were came back within a few months.

[flagged]

Re: The drinking fountain button

#77

Post by bombcar »

tnmom wrote: post #46
chiffre01 wrote: post #45

Maybe it's just me, but it looks like every fountain turned off during during the pandemic will never to be turned back on?

Just you; in my comparatively sane state most were never turned off and those that were came back within a few months.

Even around here there's a few that seem to still be off, and I think just because nobody ever bothered to complain or turn them back on.

Someday I'll get arsed enough to figure out where the valve/plug is.

Don't even get me started on water fountains that require power.

Re: The drinking fountain button

#78

Post by bombcar »

weinzierl wrote: post #32

"Who among us hasn’t walked up to a drinking fountain, expecting a bubbling stream of life-giving water, only to experience the crushing disappointment of a measly trickle after smashing in that button?" That'd be me. I traveled quite a bit all over the world and these seem to be a pretty American thing. It's also a bit strange because for the countries that have them it is generally not recommended to drink tap wate…

From my travels the USA is way more concerned with water-saving devices, even in areas where there really is no water conservatory problems.

Toilets in Europe will still seem to flush using the full power of Niagara Falls, which are quite rare in the US now.

Re: The drinking fountain button

#79

Post by kurthr »

weinzierl wrote: post #32

"Who among us hasn’t walked up to a drinking fountain, expecting a bubbling stream of life-giving water, only to experience the crushing disappointment of a measly trickle after smashing in that button?" That'd be me. I traveled quite a bit all over the world and these seem to be a pretty American thing. It's also a bit strange because for the countries that have them it is generally not recommended to drink tap wate…

Oh man, don't forget the ones that spray 8 feet into the air!

At least you can usually tell, if the ground is wet around it... that it's going to take your head off, if you put your mouth over it before turning the knob.

p.s. europeans just have fountains, and you drink the water out them with your shoe like it's champagne!

Re: The drinking fountain button

#80

Post by Angostura »

weinzierl wrote: post #32

"Who among us hasn’t walked up to a drinking fountain, expecting a bubbling stream of life-giving water, only to experience the crushing disappointment of a measly trickle after smashing in that button?" That'd be me. I traveled quite a bit all over the world and these seem to be a pretty American thing. It's also a bit strange because for the countries that have them it is generally not recommended to drink tap wate…

Got them in the UK. Together with their new cousins, designed specifically for refilling water bottle to cut down on plastic waste.
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