Water fountains in Roscommon secondary schools

Water fountain units were installed in all 9 secondary schools in County Roscommon as part of Roscommon County Council’s 2018 LAPN-funded project. The units chosen are operated by a sensor and feature a bottle counter as well as a water fountain. 

Based on data collected during the first year, the average number of refills is 43 per student. Some of the schools assessed the number of plastic bottles in the waste stream over a year, finding that the introduction of the refill units reduced plastic bottle disposal by 30–50%.

As well as installing the water fountains, a number of the schools also introduced branded reusable bottles, with the reduction in plastic bottle disposal found to be higher in these schools.