The History of Drinking Fountains

Ice-chilled drinking fountains soon evolved to refrigerated units. The drinking fountains were refrigerated using ammonia compressors. While the original drinking fountains were quite heavy and large, the style of drinking fountains continued to change. Water in public schools grew in popularity and importance. Because schools were limited in space, the growing need for water in schools lead to wall-mounted water coolers. These coolers took up less floor space and fit school environments. As time progressed, the wall-mounted, recessed drinking fountain was added. These saved even more space than wall-mounted drinking fountains.

Luther Haws was motivated to invent a sanitary drinking fountain after seeing children at a school drinking from the same tin cup. In 1906, he developed the first drinking faucet, which was later picked up by the Berkeley School Department. This eventually lead to the invention of the self-contained electric water cooler, emergency showers and eyewash stations, and barrier-free electric water coolers. Today, Haws Corporation is in its third and fourth generations of the family-owned company.

Halsey Taylor was motivated to invent a sanitary drinking fountain after his father died from typhoid fever in 1896. This is because typhoid fever is typically spread through contaminated water. By 1912, Taylor had developed the first modern drinking fountain and begun to manufacture them in Warren, Ohio.

During World War I, sanitary drinking water was desprately needed. In response to the high demand, Halsey Taylor created the double bubbler drinking fountain. The double bubbler used two separate streams. The streams were angled to converge and create a pyramid of water. Not only did this lead to a fuller sip, it decreased the spreading of germs due to mouths being further from the bubbler heads.

Water comes from your building's water supply line. The water pressure is constant, but blocked. When you activate the drinking fountain push bar or push button, the seal is temporarily removed and the water pressure is unblocked. When the water pressure is unblocked, the water is released and dispenses out of the drinking fountain bubbler head. Releasing the push bar or push button blocks water pressure once again, stopping water flow to the bubbler.