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New ITD water fountains have already saved 10,000 bottles

Five new water fountains were installed at the main ITD Headquarters complex in Boise starting in January. They have already saved 10,000 plastic bottles, and greatly reduced iron, chlorine and dirt particles from the water to improve health for employees.

"Unfiltered water at our fountains have been an issue for at least the last 10 years," Building Facilities Superintendent Aaron Nelson (pictured right) explained. In addition, paying for outside water service was costing ITD $8,000 to $10,000 per year.

Nelson's crew installed five refrigerated, filtered water fountains in the Headquarters main building – the first was installed Feb. 1 near the employee break room and public bathrooms in the main lobby, another one was installed in the DMV hallway, and a third where the hallway splits by Building Services and heads back to the ETS/IT areas. There also was one installed on the second floor, and one on the third.

Nelson said they also plan to install a new fountain in the East Annex building this summer, one for the Training Development Center trailer, and one for the new Enterprise Technology Services trailer.

As of April 5 we have saved 10,217 plastic bottles, and that if we keep pace like this for the rest of the year we could save over 50,000 bottles," Nelson said.

According to Nelson, the projected savings will overtake the cost of installation for the new units, and the department will see a positive return on investment in about a year.

The innovation was originally proposed by Ken Angell, Human Resource Manager for the districts, in summer 2016, and finally came to fruition this year.