The drinking fountain button

[weinzierl]

"Who among us hasn’t walked up to a drinking fountain, expecting a bubbling stream of life-giving water, only to experience the crushing disappointment of a measly trickle after smashing in that button?"

That'd be me. I traveled quite a bit all over the world and these seem to be a pretty American thing.

It's also a bit strange because for the countries that have them it is generally not recommended to drink tap water and for the few countries where tap water is considered safe to drink they are virtually non-existent.

[bombcar]

From my travels the USA is way more concerned with water-saving devices, even in areas where there really is no water conservatory problems.

Toilets in Europe will still seem to flush using the full power of Niagara Falls, which are quite rare in the US now.

[kurthr]

Oh man, don't forget the ones that spray 8 feet into the air!

At least you can usually tell, if the ground is wet around it... that it's going to take your head off, if you put your mouth over it before turning the knob.

p.s. europeans just have fountains, and you drink the water out them with your shoe like it's champagne!

[icambron]

I'm not quite following; are you saying it's not recommended that you drink American tap water? Or that there are bunch of other countries with sketchier water full of drinking fountains?

[CivBase]

Since when was it "generally not recommended" to drink tap water in America? Most places I've been in America the water looks, smells, and tastes just like the stuff they sell in bottles.

[the__alchemist]

Interesting! USA seems to be the only country I've visited that drinks tap water, let alone has water fountains.

[Angostura]

Got them in the UK. Together with their new cousins, designed specifically for refilling water bottle to cut down on plastic waste.

[luxuryballs]

perhaps where nobody is drinking the water there’s also no rationing of pressure or incentive to minimize flow for cost savings

[walthamstow]

I miss water fountains that you can drink directly from, as opposed to those that can only fill up a bottle. There's one outside Blackhorse Road tube that only does the latter, you have to contort yourself to drink directly from it and people will look at you like you're mad.

[nlunbeck]

I always prefer the bottle filling stations over drinking fountains, for the 20% of the time that I actually have a bottle with me.

In gyms/libraries/airports it always feels like refilling stations get 5x more use than drinking fountains, but when you're anywhere else, what are the odds you're carrying a bottle?

[plutoh28]

Consider getting a water bottle?

[rascul]

Not about the button, but I am reminded of a Parks and Recreation clip about water fountain hygiene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoCOQb2u-N8

[whartung]

I always preferred the spring loaded knobs (or levers) that you twist compared to the buttons you press down. More leverage, easier to use and modulate if necessary.

[mynameisnoone]

I remember those. 4-sided either rounded bulbs or paddles that blended into the central hub. The disadvantage is that they require fine motor control and so aren't accessible to all people. The problem though is that most of the pushbutton types tend to require too great of force to be usable by anyone. I prefer the crashbar button type that requires some force to engage but much less force to remain engaged.

[openplatypus]

Meanwhile in Germany:

0.50€ for tap water in restaurant

No public drinking water facilities

[netsharc]

Suuure... where are you in Germany?

https://overpass-turbo.eu , the sample query is already for drinking fountains. I navigated so Berlin is on the map and clicked Run, and it shows me all drinking water fountains on the map. A few of them even have image links, for example: https://imgur.com/d6UheOw

[chiffre01]

Maybe it's just me, but it looks like every fountain turned off during during the pandemic will never to be turned back on?

[tnmom]

Just you; in my comparatively sane state most were never turned off and those that were came back within a few months.

[faefox]

Not at all true in my experience though I have seen a jump in the number of fountains with integrated hands-free bottle fillers (which is a win in my book).

[lukas099]

Loss of water fountains hits me in the feels. Really representative of the erosion of the commons and public trust to me.

[pjs_]

Bold to post this on a website for people who are paid millions to make buttons on the computer

[chrsw]

Where I'm from those fountains rarely even worked.

[SoftTalker]

When I lived in Chicago the public water fountains just ran all the time. There was no button. The city is right on Lake Michigan so they have an abundant supply of fresh water. As I understand it, for many years they did not even meter water for residential service, you just paid a flat fee every month.

[2024throwaway]

The headline is click bait, nothing about it is misunderstood. I generally enjoy esoterica, but can’t believe I just read a whole article that amounts to “those buttons are buttons”.

[sgarland]

They’re not, though. They’re button-activated valves with a fairly complicated flow path, integrated screen, extremely high lifecycle, and pressure regulation to deal with a wide range (one spec I saw said 30-90 psig) of water pressure, all while being contained in a single cartridge for easy replacement.

The details of everyday items are fascinating.

[danyala]

It does make a little more sense when considered alongside its sibling entries in the long-running series ‘Button of the Month’

[sdwr]

While we're complaining, does anyone else think the button mechanism is too complicated? That diagram has 50 annotations, which seems like too many for a button.

I know nothing about fabrication or physical engineering, but surely it can't be that hard to make it simpler, like a safety pin or a <second thing>.

Not a joke. Thanks.

[tichiian]

I wish Europe had any drinking fountains. Even extremely-high-traffic public areas such as airports and train stations have but a few or (usually) none.

[justincormack]

In the UK they were initially created by the temperance movement, I ended up starting this wiki article years ago. Sadly many are no longer functioning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Drinking_Fountain...

[planede]

Switzerland has a lot in my experience. At least the few cities that I visited. They are also very well mapped on openstreetmap, so it was easy to search for a nearby one with osmand whenever I was thirsty.

[082349872349872]

It amazes me that 1960s Moscow had drinking fountains with shared glasses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F68bbzOOOdY&t=1850s

What were they thinking?

[globular-toast]

Public toilets too. I just don't understand how all these people are walking around all day without being able to drink or use the toilet. Fair enough if it's acceptable to go behind a bush or something, but apparently it isn't.

[IncreasePosts]

In morocco, we have restaurants with sinks near the front, exactly like a sink you might find in a bathroom in a house, and next to that sink is a copper cup attached by a chain to the wall. And people are free to come in and drink from that. I always wondered why the humble fountain wasn't more popular

[surgical_fire]

Rome had plenty last time I went there.

[alistairSH]

What countries do have them?

In the US, they seem to exist in offices and schools. Airports tend to have them, and often with a bottle filler on the side, which is great since we can't carry water through security.

But, just walking down the street, truly public water? Is that a thing anywhere in the US, or elsewhere?

[nanidin]

They are all over Rome.

[gwervc]

It has. Which part of Europe are you talking about?

[themoonisachees]

I don't know what's wrong with your tap water in the US but here we generally drink that and didn't invent "a tap, but slower".