BEACH AND BAY

CURRENT WATER BOTTLE FILLING STATIONS

• Central Beach (pictured) • City Hall • Coronado Cays Park • Coronado Community Center • Coronado Golf Course Club House • Coronado Public Library • Coronado Tennis Center (bike path) • Fire stations • Glorietta Bay Park • John D. Spreckels Center • Library Tennis Courts • North Beach • Mathewson Park • Rotary Park • Spreckels Park

On tap

City’s water filling stations offer Earth-friendly drinking option

By AMY STEWARD

Water. It’s literally and figuratively the lifeblood of our planet. Although roughly 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, only 2.5 percent is fresh and less than 1 percent is available for people to use.

The United Nations notes that over the past century, fresh-water usage has increased at more than twice the rate of population growth. But one in four people worldwide does not have access to clean water. Access to clean water is considered to be a human right and critical to a healthy community.

Here in Coronado, the city has installed water bottle filling stations to provide free drinking water and help reduce the use of plastic. You can find them across the city in parks as well as inside and adjacent to municipal buildings. The Coronado Unified School District has also installed water filling stations at all schools.

“We have a goal over the next two years to have a minimum of at least one bottle filler in each facility and outdoor public areas that currently have standard water fountains,” said Ian Lasley, public services supervisor for the city of Coronado.

Some of the filling stations around town are touchless, and stations are cleaned nightly, Lasley said.

Reducing the number of single-use plastic water bottles not only helps the environment, but it also helps reduce water scarcity. It takes four to six times the amount of water contained in a single-use bottle to produce that plastic bottle.

Plastic water bottles also contribute to the pollution of water sources. According to the journal Science Advances, only 9 percent of all plastic ever made globally has been recycled. The rest ends up in landfills or somewhere else in the environment.

And while water purveyors sell the idea that bottled water is better, science has shown that plastic can leach toxins into the bottle.

Decreasing the use of water bottles faces an uphill battle due to climate change. Climate change causes shifting weather patterns, which in turn change the access

and availability of fresh water. While some regions of the world face catastrophic flooding, others face severe drought. These shifts in water availability increase the reliance on bottled water.

Even here in California, people in Central Valley are facing drinking water supply vulnerabilities due to the overpumping of aquifers during a drought, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Many homes have had to resort to using bottled water as wells run low or dry.

The drought in California continues. San Diego International Airport recorded only 0.16 inches of rain in January, a month that normally averages nearly 2 inches of rain.

Like much of California, Coronado is facing water restrictions because of the drought. While restrictions are not yet in place, residents can be proactive by watering their yards less, converting lawns to gardens with native and drought-tolerant plants, taking shorter showers and placing buckets in showers to collect water for use in the garden. Conservation is critical.

With so much water surrounding us, it’s easy to forget that the world’s water supply is limited. The city’s water stations are one way to use fresh water wisely and at the same time reduce the impact of plastic on the environment. ■

Amy Steward is president of Emerald Keepers.

WHAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT

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