SHEPHERDSTOWN — Thanks to a $36,720 REAP Recycling Assistance Grant from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, clean drinking water will become more accessible across the Shepherd University campus.
Shelley Shaffer, physical plant manager; Dr. Sytil Murphy, associate professor of physics; and Dr. Heidi Hanrahan, professor of English, worked with Madge Morningstar, director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, to secure the grant, which will cover the cost of purchasing and installing 10 outdoor, frost-free filling stations and 20 indoor stations.
While the campus already does have a few indoor stations, this will allow further access to clean drinking water — whether indoors or outdoors.
“We are overjoyed to have received this grant,” Murphy said. “Part of Shepherd’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was to turn off all the water fountains across campus, limiting access to clean drinking water. We are so glad that we could help bring that access back to Shepherd.”
Murphy said the new filling stations will offer the campus community much healthier water than is found in the old fountains and will help reduce plastic waste.
“This project is one of the projects that I am most proud of, having been involved with while at Shepherd, because of its direct impact on the entire campus community. I was part of a group of people from around campus that came together to bring safe drinking water to our campus,” Murphy said. “I love that the solution found is so environmentally friendly.”
In addition to the purchase and installation of the filling stations, the grant will cover signage that will promote the stations’ use and provide information about health and environmental benefits. Murphy expects all 30 new water bottle filling stations to be installed before the end of 2022.
“Available studies show that water from water fountains presents numerous health risks due to heavy metals and microbial contaminants, making it potentially unsafe,” Murphy added. “Currently, the available alternative to the water fountains is water bottles. A water bottle filling station will allow easy refilling of reusable bottles and decrease waste from single-use bottles. Thus, water bottle filling stations are an environmentally-friendly option for providing drinking water to the campus community that can be filtered and sanitized, greatly reducing the health risks.”
For Hanrahan, the grant is most exciting because of the importance of having a sustainability-friendly source of drinking water on campus.
“When we had to shut off the fountains on campus, I found myself carrying a huge reusable water bottle to campus every day. It’s a bit of a hassle. I see students and colleagues doing the same or relying on water from plastic bottles, which certainly isn’t eco-friendly,” Hanrahan said.
Hanrahan added that there is also additional excitement around the grant, because it was the product of interdisciplinary and interdepartmental collaboration.
“I’m an English professor, but I love working with colleagues from other departments and offices on campus to make our university stronger. These opportunities and the team that makes them happen are what make Shepherd so special,” Hanrahan said. “The idea for this grant literally started when Sytil, my good friend from physics, called me one summer evening when she realized the water fountains weren’t coming back on. ‘OK. What can we do?’ I asked, and she said, ‘Maybe a grant?’ We started brainstorming right away, and thanks also to Madge and Shelley, we now have a funded solution.”
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