How to Drink From a Fountain

When Luther Haws, sanitation inspector for Berkeley, California, first witnessed schoolchildren drinking from a shared cup, he was disturbed at the thought of the diseases that were being transmitted from child to child. Likewise, when Hasley W. Taylor, whose father died of typhoid, witnessed dysentery -- another waterborne disease -- spreading through his plant workers, he was determined to provide a safe public drinking alternative. In both cases, the result was the modern water fountain. Today, similar fountains provide sanitary water sources nationwide. They are commonly called drinking fountains, water fountains, water coolers or bubblers.

Instructions

• 1

  Use one hand to hold back your hair, if you have long hair.

• 2

  Press and hold the button on the top, front or side of the fountain or step on the foot pedal to turn on the water.

• 3

  Lean forward and suck the water from approximately the middle of the stream. Do not place your mouth on the metal fountain, as germs often collect here.

• 4

  Release the button or foot pedal to stop the flow of water.