Cambridge lost the race to resurrect an increasingly rare amenity in the urban landscape earlier this week when the City of Waterloo unveiled its new outdoor drinking fountain in Waterloo Town Square.
Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe unveiled the boxy and basic, steel drinking fountain during Tuesday's blistering heat wave.
It taps into an adjacent fire hydrant to provide water to a bottle refill station, a drinking station, an accessible drinking station and a ground level drinking station for pets.
The unveiling comes almost two months after Cambridge Coun. Scott Hamilton won unanimous council support for his motion asking Cambridge staff to explore the possibility of launching a drinking fountain pilot project of its own.
Now Hamilton is hoping city staff can piggyback on Waterloo's homework so Cambridge can get a drinking fountain sooner than planned.
And he thinks Cambridge can take it a step further in terms of "placemaking" by considering the addition of nearby artistic structures or cycling amenities to complement the fountain.
"So it's not just about water. It's a place you could go to for a variety of social functions, which would be cool."
Coincidentally, Hamilton watched from the office window where he works as the fountain was being installed.
Immediately after it was open for business, he saw people step off the ION and walk through the square to fill their water bottles and go on their way. Dogs eagerly lapped up the cool water flowing into the pet station.
The once common amenity in city parks and main streets, began to disappear as the convenience of bottled water, coupled with health concerns and maintenance costs for aging infrastructure, led many municipalities to remove outdoor drinking fountains decades ago.
In recent years, demand for access to water has changed with the popularity of refillable bottles.
"There are always questions concerning budget. There are always questions in Cambridge concerning location because we have three cores," Hamilton says.
Questions about potential vandalism, "fouling" and the maintenance it would require are also top of mind, but none of the issues he's heard are insurmountable.
Staff says it hopes to report to council on next steps by the end of summer or early fall.
Waterloo says its seasonal fountain, which cost about $7,000, will serve as a pilot as the city determines community usage and long-term viability before it considers expanding the program to other locations.
The cost of doing nothing is far greater than the minor up-front costs knowing the environmental impacts of single-use water bottles, Hamilton says.
Climate change is another motivator behind the push to improve access to free, clean drinking water.
"Not everyone can afford a $4 bottle of water at the corner store," he says.
And in a week where the global average temperature peaked three days in a row, the need for municipalities to improve access to basic necessities like water is more apparent than ever.
