Drinking water at Niagara College
In September 2012, Niagara College banned the sale of bottled water on campus. The initiative initially stemmed from employee recommendations after hearing from keynote speaker, Maude Barlow, at the 2012 Day of Reflection. While banning bottled water has the obvious benefit of reducing waste from plastic bottles, it more importantly reinforces that everyone has the right—not the privilege—to clean drinking water, and it should not be sold as a commodity. To ensure continued access to clean drinking water on campus, hydration stations and water filling attachments were installed around campus, and all new students and employees receive a reusable water bottle.
Starting in 2023, yearly indoor water quality assessments of hydration stations located on campus have been performed at the Niagara-on-the-lake campus as part of various student projects. In the winter of 2024, the Welland campus indoor water quality was also monitored. The finished student reports and results of their findings are available in the Sustainability Projects Database.
