Drinking Water Refill Stations in Leisure Centres

In 2019, Mayo County Council installed a water refill point at the main reception in the just newly-opened public leisure centre in Castlebar – the Leisure Complex at Lough Lannagh. Only 6 months after opening, the inbuilt counter in the water refill station showed 42,000 refills.

Following on from this, Mayo County Council used LAPN funding in 2019 to install three more drinking water refill stations in the other public leisure centres in the county – in Westport, Claremorris and Ballina. The Council has also used the funding to support an upgrade of refill points in three secondary schools in the county, along with a survey of current usage of single-use water bottles in the schools, as well as attitudes and barriers to refilling.

This work by the council features in a new guide for providing easy access to free water refill points, to try to change how water is consumed when people are out and about – a simple, positive climate action. This guide was developed by LAPN and a number of local authorities, including Mayo County Council.