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05/07/2024 03:46 PMPress Release from Connecticut Water
Connecticut Water recently donated $15,000 in touchless, bottle-filling stations to eight schools in the state, including Baldwin Middle School in Guilford. The bottle-filling stations donated by Connecticut Water will help students and staff in these eight schools use fewer single-use plastic bottles. In addition to Guilford, the 2024 School Water Bottle Filling Station Grant Program also awarded filling stations to schools in Southbury and Windsor Locks.
With the eight filling stations distributed in 2024, the program has awarded 56 units to schools in 20 districts since 2020—a value of more than $80,000. Report counters in school filling stations show that they filled the equivalent of more than 650,000 single-use plastic bottles.
“We already know about the benefits of hydration to students throughout the school day,” said Denise Poole of Connecticut Water’s Charitable Giving Committee. “But now, more than ever, the environmental and health benefits of a touchless station for refillable bottles makes sense. Based on all of the positive feedback we’ve received, students enjoy the bottle fill units and make good use of them.”
In addition to supporting the needs of Connecticut Water’s service communities, the program also aims to support Connecticut Water’s commitment to the environment by promoting the use of reusable bottles. Schools and families also save money by reducing their purchases of single-use bottles of water.
The 2024 Water Bottle Filling Station Grant Program was announced via press release and direct communication with public officials within Connecticut Water’s service communities in the fall of 2023. Any public school served by Connecticut Water was eligible to apply. The deadline for applications was Jan. 31, 2024.
The filling station donations are part of Connecticut Water’s ongoing support of local communities. In 2024, the company renewed its commitment to support local non-profit and community organizations with a total charitable giving budget of $120,000. Funding is provided by Connecticut Water's Charitable Giving program and is not recovered in customer rates.
Along with Baldwin Middle School, seven other schools will also receive fill stations. Those schools are Rochambeau Middle School, Long Meadow Elementary School, and Gainfield Elementary School in Southbury; as well as Windsor Locks High School, Windsor Locks Middle School, South Street Elementary School, and North Street Elementary School in Windsor Locks.