At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, water fountains shut down across the country as a precautionary measure. Three years later, COVID is still surging and the Hamden community is still left without access to many public water fountains.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont declared a public health emergency on March 10, 2020. Many changes to health and safety that impacted everyday life and society, including turning off water fountains, followed the declaration.
Lamont terminated the declaration earlier this year and water fountains in schools are back on and flowing – including in Hamden.
However, public water fountains in parks and outside areas remain out of service.
Justin Farmer, a legislative council member of Hamden’s District 5, says water fountains are still likely off due to the coronavirus.
“I assume it would probably be COVID-related. Obviously, you know, COVID is still out there, but a lot of things have returned,” Farmer said. “At the same time there’s been spikes of stuff, so…”
According to the Centers of Disease Control, during the week of Sept. 23, there were 287 new hospital admissions for COVID, the largest number since the week of March 4 – well before the termination of the public health emergency. In the week of Sept. 16, there were 85 new hospital admissions alone in New Haven County, which includes the town of Hamden.
While these spikes are bound to happen periodically, COVID might not be the reason why public water fountains are still turned off.
In fact, there might be no reason at all.
It’s really tricky to know the right thing to do,” he said. “I think they could probably turn it back on, but who knows?” Farmer said.
Hamden mayor Lauren Garrett saIS that COVID is not the reason for the public water fountains being out of service at all.
“It’s not because of any, like, order to keep (the water fountains) off,” Garrett said.
“Honestly, it probably needs to get repaired. Or, there’s a possibility, I’m not really sure about what the regulations are, but sometimes when you have something that’s out of service for a while, they have to get some type of certification for it to get put back into service, through (the Quinnipiack Valley Health District).”
Garrett said that COVID is not the reason for public water fountains being off, but also that the QVHD is in charge of putting it back in service.
Lynn Fox, the chief of environmental services at QVHD, said that the district is not, in fact, in charge of that.
“Yea we don’t have anything to do with that,” Fox said. “That would be the town.”
Garrett also mentioned the idea that the community has to ask for fountains to be back on. That brings up an interesting debate about if water fountains are necessary.
If that system truly is how it works, that means that nobody has requested for the fountains to be back in use. However, that’s also assuming that the public knows how the system works – and it doesn’t even seem public officials know the processes.
The public does not seem to miss public water fountains.
Gene Viola, a local real estate agent and former Hamden resident, believes that water fountains are a thing of the past and that he doesn’t utilize them anymore, despite doing so in the past.
“Me personally, whether they’re turned off or not, I won’t use it,” Viola said.
Viola also believes that the world could go without water fountains altogether. “I think in the world we live in today, yeah.”
The COVID pandemic opened a lot of eyes about germs, with hand dryers and other everyday tools and resources labeled as outdated due to its ability to spread germs rapidly.
However, public water fountains are not actually a huge cause for health concern, at least in regard to COVID.
A 2021 study in Epidemiology & Infection revealed that water fountains are capable of spreading germs and coronavirus – but only in a very small capacity.
The study occurred to assess the presence of SARS-CoV-2, which is the actual virus in COVID-19, in environmental places, including playgrounds and water fountains. The researchers collected samples from each place and then tested to see if any of the samples came back with a positive test result.
There were 25 samples taken from public water fountains; only one sample returned positive.
There is no actual spread of COVID from the water itself, just from the surface of the fountain. With regular cleaning, water fountains could easily be back on in public settings with little risk of spreading coronavirus.
If water fountains were to be back on, it could be helpful for a lot of people.
Yamilett Candelaril, a 29-year-old certified nursing assistant studying to be a nurse, brings her five children to the Keefe Community Center and has to bring her own water bottles due to water fountains not only being off in parks, or even just not there altogether.
“Kids run around and, you know, they get hot and they want water. Some people can’t afford to have their own water bottles and stuff to bring to the park,” Candelaril said. “I think water fountains are very important.”
South Hamden is home to the Keefe Community Center, which does not have a water fountain in the area.
The Keefe Community Center is home to a playground with slides and other activities for children, as well as a basketball hoop. Without any access to a public water fountain, people will dehydrate if they lack the resources to purchase water bottles.
While public water fountains being off in parks could be an issue for some families, Keefe altogether doesn’t have one, which Candelaril says she understands despite wanting one.
“People don’t respect (anything); that’s why we don’t have nothing, to be honest. It goes both ways,” Candelaril said.
Other parks outside of the Keefe Community Center include John P. Denicola Park and Millrock Park.
John P. Denicola Park has a large playground, basketball courts and a field area for activities like biking. The park does have a water fountain right past the entrance gate, but it has not been in service since 2020.
Similarly, Millrock Park, located across the old Hamden Middle School, has two large basketball courts, tennis courts, a large field area and a playground area. The park also has a water fountain, located in between the basketball courts, but it has also not been in service since 2020.
If the water fountains are still off as a precautionary measure is still unclear. There are still many resources that were available before March 2020 that are still out of service for health and safety purposes.
It seems like water fountains in parks and other public places may truly be a thing of the past, and seeing one in use will be a rarity, especially in Hamden. Although, the most important places for water fountains to be are in schools, and they have all been back in service across the country and in Hamden.