Water Bottle Refilling Stations

When you fill up a BPA-free, reusable water bottle at the tap, or one of UConn's drinking fountains or hydration stations on campus, instead of buying bottled water, you're not only saving money but also reducing your ecological footprint and helping UConn become a more sustainable campus.

UConn's hydration or refill stations can be found across campus with more locations on the way. Currently, students, staff, and faculty can conveniently refill their bottles at over 60 locations:

  • Student Union (2)
  • Facility Operations Building (2)
  • Field House (2)
  • Engineering II Building
  • Budds Building
  • Ellsworth Hall
  • Fenwick Hall (Towers)
  • Hale Hall
  • Young Building (2)
  • Whitney Hall
  • Hilltop Community Center
  • McConaughy Hall
  • LaFayette Hall (Towers)
  • Stamford Downtown Campus
  • Eddy Hall (Alumni)
  • Belden Hall (Alumni)
  • Central Warehouse Building (Purchasing)
  • Shippee Hall
  • Family Studies
  • Monteith Building
  • Brock Hall
  • Ryan Refectory Building (CHIP)
  • Rome Hall
  • Rowe Center (2)
  • Buckley Residence Hall
  • Electrical Shop
  • McHugh Hall
  • Batterson Hall
  • North Residence Hall
  • Hicks Arena
  • Wood Hall (7)
  • Hall Building
  • Koons Hall (6)
  • Beach Hall (5)
  • White Building (4)
  • Jones Building (4)
  • Klink Building
  • Werth Tower
  • Central Warehouse
  • Storrs Hall
  • Engineering and Science Building

 

Water Bottle Refill Station
To request the installation of a hydration station, please submit a work order specifying your request.  Departmental funds must be available to cover the cost of purchase and installation.

Why Tap Water

  • Tap water is safer than bottled water.
  • Tap water saves energy and reduces our dependence on oil, which reduces your carbon footprint. You'll save a ¼ bottle of oil every time you refill.
  • Tap water reduces waste. UConn recycles, but even better to reduce your drinking water waste altogether with a reusable bottle.
  • Tap water is cleaner, more efficient, more convenient, and free of charge at a location near you!

The federal EPA and state Department of Public Health enforce strict water quality standards for public drinking water supply systems. UConn's water system is required to routinely sample tap water and comply with these standards for more than 15 possible contaminants and the results must be annually reported to consumers. These same laws and standards do not apply to bottled water, which is regulated instead by the Food and Drug Administration, and only if it is sold in interstate commerce. FDA drinking water standards are not as stringent, nor as well enforced, and some bottled water is exempt. (Bottled & Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession With Bottled Water by Peter Gleick)

Plastic bottles are made from PET, which is made from petroleum. Energy is required to manufacture the bottles and run the bottling and refrigeration machines. It also requires fuel, typically petro-diesel, to transport the bottles to the place where you buy them. These combined energy costs are the oil equivalent of about one quarter the volume of each bottle and 1000 times greater than the energy costs to pump, treat and deliver tap water. (Gleick)

The production process for a bottle of water wastes the equivalent of about 3 or 4 bottles of water. Also, many plastic bottles are not properly sorted for recycling and end up as litter or non-biodegradable trash, bound for a landfill or waste incinerator. (Gleick)

Updated: 01/24/2019