Where: Coachella Valley, California
Issue: Some areas of the community lack access to safe drinking water meaning kids and families face negative health impacts from not drinking enough water
Outcome: Through the Agua4All program, RCAC has installed nearly 200 water bottle filling stations in schools and communities to increase access to and consumption of safe drinking water, 78 of which were installed in the Eastern Coachella Valley
More than one million Californians lack access to safe drinking water, and their only alternatives are expensive bottled water or sugary beverages. Low-income, predominately Hispanic communities in the state are disproportionately impacted, and this contributes to a public health crisis whereby one in three Hispanics and nearly half of the state’s adults are pre-diabetic.
The Agua4All program was launched with the support of The California Endowment in 2014 and initiated at schools in the Eastern Coachella Valley and southern Kern County in partnership with Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC), Community Water Center and Pueblo Unido Community Development Corporation.
It has been successful in spotlighting the lack of safe drinking water access in schools and communities including water quality concerns as well as dilapidated water fountain infrastructure, and encourages unique public-private partnerships to increase access and promote consumption. The idea is simple: install water bottle filling stations where they are needed most, such as in schools and community centers, and include water treatment where necessary.
Initial evaluation results, released in summer 2016, show that students in the Eastern Coachella Valley are drinking more water following the installation of water bottle filling stations and enhanced education.
At Saul Martinez Elementary school in Mecca, “the number of ounces of water consumed per student per day more than doubled and, in some cases, more than tripled once the filling stations were installed,” according to RCAC and University of California, San Francisco. At both Saul Martinez and Toro Canyon Middle School in Thermal, the number of students per hour using the water sources increased and, at the latter, doubled.
The project has attracted national attention and enjoyed great success – so much so that it is now set to expand beyond the pilot areas, with a plan to install at least 200 more water-bottle filling stations including expansion within Riverside County.
RCAC is very proud to announce that based on the need throughout the state and the pilot program’s success that the state of California has included $10 million in their annual budget for schools to install bottle filling stations and treatment where necessary to increase safe water access and consumption for better health.
