The water bottle fill stations are similar to drinking fountains but include an overhead filling system to easily fill reusable water bottles. EMWD actively promotes the use of refillable bottles as part of its commitment toward both conveying the value of tap water and environmental stewardship.

Each fill station has a small counter that tracks the number of bottles avoided being placed in landfills and also includes information about EMWD’s tap water – which continually meets and is superior to all state and federal drinking water standards. EMWD conducts nearly 45,000 water quality tests each year to ensure it is continually delivering high quality water supplies to its communities.

Nearly three dozen fill stations have already been installed at various community venues, including schools, parks, community centers, shopping centers and recreation facilities. EMWD is actively pursuing grant funding to offset the cost of future fill stations.

High schools in Temecula, San Jacinto, Hemet, Moreno Valley and Murrieta have taken part in the program. Every high school within EMWD’s water service area has been offered to participate in the program and more are anticipated to be completed this spring.

Following the completion of all high schools, EMWD will be offering the program to middle and elementary school campuses.

“EMWD is committed to being involved in our schools and this program allows students and staff to enjoy the benefits of tap water while also working to reduce their environmental footprint,” EMWD President David Slawson said. “Our hope is that every school in our service area will eventually have a water bottle fill station installed so that students and staff may continue to realize the health benefits of a high quality water while also reducing the amount of plastic waste produced.”

EMWD has longstanding and successful partnerships with the schools throughout its service area. EMWD is a leader in classroom education programs and does outreach to more than 60,000 students
each year to ensure that its next generation of customers are informed on the value and quality of
the water.

Among schools that had fill stations installed are San Jacinto Leadership Academy and Mountain
View High School, both within the San Jacinto Unified School District. District officials recognized
EMWD during their February 15, 2017, Board Meeting and said the fill stations have been a success
on campus.

“We extend a huge thank you to EMWD for our community partnership in promoting health and
wellness for our schools” said Tammy White, San Jacinto Unified School District’s Director of
Nutrition Services. “The new water bottle filling stations at San Jacinto Leadership Academy and
Mountain View High School are already in full use as the kids really like them.”