Thanks to a donation from The Elon Musk Foundation, school students in Flint, Michigan have clean drinking water for the first time since 2016.
A total of 136 hydrations were recently installed at 12 different Flint school buildings.
One of the stations was unveiled at a special ceremony on Tuesday at the Flint Southwestern Academy. Fifteen of the 136 stations were installed at this school, which provides education to students in grades 8 through 12.
The hydration stations were made possible through a $480,000 donation by The Elon Musk Foundation, which also provided $423,000 to buy laptops for middle school students.
“This means a lot. Water should not be something that we have to pay for — water is a necessity of life. It should not be something we have to fight for,” Superintendent Kevelin Jones said at the ceremony. (via mLIVE)
With the addition, the school will no longer have to supply students with bottled water, something which it has done on a daily basis for the past six years.
Each hydration station filters for lead, chlorine, and bacteria. They also feature a built-in chiller to keep the water cold.
The stations were tested by researchers at Kettering University, and in particular by Laura Sullivan, a professor of mechanical engineering who has been pioneering bring back clean drinking water to Flint schools.
The testing was also validated by Arc Environmental, an environmental consultant hired by Flint schools.
