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Drinking water in schools
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t t l t h , l o-'M. ! i %'0.~
84, 19I-t93
Drinking Water in Schools E. M A R J O R I E W A L L I S M.B., C]4,B.(ED.), D.P.H., D.OBST,, R.C.O.G.
DepuO' Medical Officer of Health attd De;~uO, Divisional Medical Officer, Town Hall, Go.~pori, l-tants. K. B. D O R M A N M.A.P.H.I.
Public Health htspector, Tottvt Hall, Gosporl, Hants. Introduction A sugv~iv made under the Standards for School Premises Regulations (1959) of 33 infant, junior and secondary schools in the autumn of 1967, caused us to question the general adequacy of the arrangements for the supply of drinking w~ter to the children.
The Existing Facilities Common arrangements tot drinking facilities in schools include the use of wash-hand basin taps in the toilet washrooms or single drinking fountains situated adjacent to the wash-hand basins. For the former arrangement, cups, where provided, were for communal use, were rarely w a s h ~ and invariably left during weekends and holidays on any convenient shelf. Where cups were not provided, direct use was made of the wash-hand basin, taps and an obvious contamination risk can be seen to exist. As a source ofsuppty of drinking water, fountains have certain disadvantages. Installation and maintenance costs are not negligible. In infant departments younger children find them difficult to manage. Amongst older children the5' provide an opportunity for somewhat undesirable experimentation. During peak perio&~ a single fountain is inadequate to meet the demand and children will prefer to use wash-hand basin taps rather than remain thirsty. During these peak periods there is a heavy use of all sanitary fittings and the resultant fall in water pressure may make it necessary for children to put their mouths on the fountain orifice. Two schools are known to have turned off all their fountains because of varying combinations of the above factors.
Trial of Disposable Cups Following an awareness of the deficiencies of the drinking facilities at certain infant scheols, it was formally approved, during May, 1967, that a trial scheme
192
PUBLIC t l E A L T I t VOL. 84 NO. 4
of disposable single-use drinking water cups could be introduced at two infant schools where facilities specifically for provision of drinking water wcrc nonexistent. A cup, manufactured of high impact polystyrene of capacity approximately 7 fluid oz, was selected. The trial was commenced in the summer term o f 1968 and single dispensers were placed in strategic positions at the two infant schools. At one school of 364 children with the dispenser placed in a centrally positioned washroom, 157 disposable cups were used per week and at the second school where only 63 children had normal access to the dispenser, 65 cups were used weekly. The children had no difficulty in operating the dispensers but it was observed that in order to bring the mechanism within reach of the smallest child, the dispenser had to be so low that it was possible for the tallest children to take the top cap off and some economy-minded children fed used cups in a~ the top end. This difficulty could, possibly, be overcome by advance instructio~. but it would be even better for the cap to bc redesigned to prevent this m~suse. Most use was made of the dispensers in the afternoon as school milk tended to quench thirst during the morning and water was supplied in washable drinking containers at table to those children taking school dinners. The use of disposable cups varied from one cup per three children to one cup per child per week, giving maximum cost of 0-633 pence (excluding co~.t of the dispenser) per child per week or £11 on current costs for a school of 350 children for a period of a 12-week term. The trial covered the summer term and use in the autumn and spring terms would certainly be less. The type of disposable cup currently available was felt to be too robust for a single use; a thinner-walled, more fragile cup would be cheaper without being any tess efficient for a single drink. The dispensers supplied for the trial carried a load of 100 cups but some difficulty was experienced in keeping them charged. This trouble would be avoided if a policy of installing several containers at vantage points in each school were adopted. Caretaking staff could then replenish the containers at the end of each school day before undertaking the more dirty jobs around the school.
Conclusion It is felt that disposable cups have much to offer in the way of positive school hygiene and also this method would have a health education value in teaching children basic hygienic principles and in making them practice these principles. Strategic dispersal of an adequate number of dispensers would enable each child to obtain easily a clean disposable cup for filling under one or more specific drinking taps. The usual disorderly queues for a single drinking fountain or the risk of drinking direct from contaminated hands or wash-hand basin taps is thereby removed. There is no reason to believe that there would be any greater misuse of these cups than there is of the now universally accepted paper
D R I N K I N G W A T E R 1N SCHOOLS
t93
towels. We would like to see disposable cups in use in all infant schools and their use extended ultimately to all schools. Unfortunately finance has made continuation of Ihe current trial impossible. Summary A iriM is described of the use in two infant schools o f plastic disposable drinking cups for water other than that taken in conjunction with school meals. The deficiencies of sources of supply of drinking water commonly available in schools are outlined. We arc gratefi~l to Messrs Mono Containers Limited oC Malt House, Field End Road, Eas(cote, Ruislip, Middlesex, for providing cups free of charge for the trial.
t t l t h , l o-'M. ! i %'0.~
84, 19I-t93
Drinking Water in Schools E. M A R J O R I E W A L L I S M.B., C]4,B.(ED.), D.P.H., D.OBST,, R.C.O.G.
DepuO' Medical Officer of Health attd De;~uO, Divisional Medical Officer, Town Hall, Go.~pori, l-tants. K. B. D O R M A N M.A.P.H.I.
Public Health htspector, Tottvt Hall, Gosporl, Hants. Introduction A sugv~iv made under the Standards for School Premises Regulations (1959) of 33 infant, junior and secondary schools in the autumn of 1967, caused us to question the general adequacy of the arrangements for the supply of drinking w~ter to the children.
The Existing Facilities Common arrangements tot drinking facilities in schools include the use of wash-hand basin taps in the toilet washrooms or single drinking fountains situated adjacent to the wash-hand basins. For the former arrangement, cups, where provided, were for communal use, were rarely w a s h ~ and invariably left during weekends and holidays on any convenient shelf. Where cups were not provided, direct use was made of the wash-hand basin, taps and an obvious contamination risk can be seen to exist. As a source ofsuppty of drinking water, fountains have certain disadvantages. Installation and maintenance costs are not negligible. In infant departments younger children find them difficult to manage. Amongst older children the5' provide an opportunity for somewhat undesirable experimentation. During peak perio&~ a single fountain is inadequate to meet the demand and children will prefer to use wash-hand basin taps rather than remain thirsty. During these peak periods there is a heavy use of all sanitary fittings and the resultant fall in water pressure may make it necessary for children to put their mouths on the fountain orifice. Two schools are known to have turned off all their fountains because of varying combinations of the above factors.
Trial of Disposable Cups Following an awareness of the deficiencies of the drinking facilities at certain infant scheols, it was formally approved, during May, 1967, that a trial scheme
192
PUBLIC t l E A L T I t VOL. 84 NO. 4
of disposable single-use drinking water cups could be introduced at two infant schools where facilities specifically for provision of drinking water wcrc nonexistent. A cup, manufactured of high impact polystyrene of capacity approximately 7 fluid oz, was selected. The trial was commenced in the summer term o f 1968 and single dispensers were placed in strategic positions at the two infant schools. At one school of 364 children with the dispenser placed in a centrally positioned washroom, 157 disposable cups were used per week and at the second school where only 63 children had normal access to the dispenser, 65 cups were used weekly. The children had no difficulty in operating the dispensers but it was observed that in order to bring the mechanism within reach of the smallest child, the dispenser had to be so low that it was possible for the tallest children to take the top cap off and some economy-minded children fed used cups in a~ the top end. This difficulty could, possibly, be overcome by advance instructio~. but it would be even better for the cap to bc redesigned to prevent this m~suse. Most use was made of the dispensers in the afternoon as school milk tended to quench thirst during the morning and water was supplied in washable drinking containers at table to those children taking school dinners. The use of disposable cups varied from one cup per three children to one cup per child per week, giving maximum cost of 0-633 pence (excluding co~.t of the dispenser) per child per week or £11 on current costs for a school of 350 children for a period of a 12-week term. The trial covered the summer term and use in the autumn and spring terms would certainly be less. The type of disposable cup currently available was felt to be too robust for a single use; a thinner-walled, more fragile cup would be cheaper without being any tess efficient for a single drink. The dispensers supplied for the trial carried a load of 100 cups but some difficulty was experienced in keeping them charged. This trouble would be avoided if a policy of installing several containers at vantage points in each school were adopted. Caretaking staff could then replenish the containers at the end of each school day before undertaking the more dirty jobs around the school.
Conclusion It is felt that disposable cups have much to offer in the way of positive school hygiene and also this method would have a health education value in teaching children basic hygienic principles and in making them practice these principles. Strategic dispersal of an adequate number of dispensers would enable each child to obtain easily a clean disposable cup for filling under one or more specific drinking taps. The usual disorderly queues for a single drinking fountain or the risk of drinking direct from contaminated hands or wash-hand basin taps is thereby removed. There is no reason to believe that there would be any greater misuse of these cups than there is of the now universally accepted paper
D R I N K I N G W A T E R 1N SCHOOLS
t93
towels. We would like to see disposable cups in use in all infant schools and their use extended ultimately to all schools. Unfortunately finance has made continuation of Ihe current trial impossible. Summary A iriM is described of the use in two infant schools o f plastic disposable drinking cups for water other than that taken in conjunction with school meals. The deficiencies of sources of supply of drinking water commonly available in schools are outlined. We arc gratefi~l to Messrs Mono Containers Limited oC Malt House, Field End Road, Eas(cote, Ruislip, Middlesex, for providing cups free of charge for the trial.