Bill would provide students with fresh water
A proposed California bill would require schools to provide students with fresh drinking water at no charge, but opponents say the bill provides no funding for such program.
Senate Bill 1413, written by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), hopes to have schools providing water with student meals by next July, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“As we all know, young people are constantly bombarded by advertisements and pressure from their peers to consume junk beverages that are high in calories and sugar. Yet many students do not have access to free, fresh drinking water at lunchtime,” Leno said in material promoting his bill, according to the Times.
David Binkle, deputy director of food services for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said most schools in the district do not have free water available to students in eating areas.
Binkle said water fountains are more cost effective, and raised concerns with the price of implemented the proposal — water cups cost near 4 or 5 cents each, and there are other costs associated with water testing, filters and equipment.
Really? This is even under debate? i remember being able to drink the water that came out of the ground. I’m only 23. Why is this an issue? I drink tap water all the time. We dont need to waste money on tripe reverse osmosis carbon filtered UV sanitized water. Just hook up a PVC pipe with some drinking holes and attach it to any hose. That’s what we did when I played football in highschool. Good enough for us.