Improving Student Environments with Proper Hydration

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that when school administrators provide drinking water access via touch-free drinking fountains throughout the facility—visibly promoting water as a healthy beverage—it helps increase students’ daily water consumption. Maintaining hydration throughout the day is essential to improving cognitive function.

Allowing students to bring water bottles to class and providing touch-free bottle fillers promotes hydration and conservation. Additionally, these touchless appliances protect students from surfaces that may harbor germs and bacteria.

In this Ask the Expert Q&A, elementary schoolteacher Tori Pattison, who understands the benefits of hydration to her students, discusses these issues, how school districts can apply for funding to upgrade their drinking fountains, and water solutions from Elkay.