The drinking fountain idea came up in our discussions about how to actually get tap water at Freie Universität. There are some students’ cafés where you can refill your water bottle, otherwise you would have to do it in the restrooms. Most of the washbasins do, however, not allow you to fill up larger bottles as there is simply not enough space between the basin and the tap.
That is why we thought having drinking fountains in the mensas would be great because they would allow you to choose between getting just a cup of water for breakfast / lunch / coffee or refilling even larger bottles without problems.
Some facts on the history of drinking fountains can be found here:
https://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/Plumbing_2.htm
https://www.squidoo.com/drinking-fountains-history
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