WOODBURY- Water is one of the three elements that keeps the human body alive. For students at Nonnewaug High School, this fall semester has brought a pair of new water fountains in critical areas of the building where students can fill up and re-hydrate.  

To date, these new fountains only have a few hundred fill ups, and the addition of the new stations have alleviated the challenges of last spring semester where they weren’t operational. 

“The water fountains that were installed during the renovation were obsolete before they were even installed,” said NHS’ lead custodian Brian Boccio. “The availability of parts and service were almost nonexistent.”

With NHS’ building renovation completed a number of years ago, Boccio and his staff quickly understood that NHS’ water fountain issue was something that needed resolving.

 “The district decided that the best course of action was to replace all the drinking fountains with new ones,” Boccio said. “The new ones that were chosen come from a highly reputable company that has been in business for a very long time.”

Along with the few water fountains, came a long walk to water. In some cases, students and teachers were walking across the school just to get a sip. 

 “My students always take at least ten minutes,” said Jennifer Trocolla, an NHS Special Education instructor. “I think if they didn’t take so long, they would definitely have had better grades.”

Now with the new fountains, it gives students more time to work in class.

“They give me an option to fill my water bottle faster,” said Jackson Lane, sophomore at NHS. “The water pressure is higher so it makes it easier to drink out of.”

The main question that everyone in the campus has is if the water fountains are going to go down again?

“The new fountains are much easier to maintain, parts are readily available and they are less complicated to work on,” Boccio said. “Therefore the new fountains were a good purchase for the region so the staff and students have a reliable drinking source.”