H.R. 88·Elementary Beginner
A Bill to Put Free Water Bottle Filling Stations in Every Public School
Rep. Cole (D-CO)
Gives schools money to install water bottle filling stations so kids drink more water and use less plastic.
Sec. 1 — Mandate
Every public school must install at least one water bottle filling station per 200 students.
Sec. 2 — Funding
$75 million in grants for schools to buy and install stations.
Sec. 3 — Enforcement
Schools that don't comply lose part of their federal facilities grant.
Sec. 4 — Effective Date
Within 2 years of the law passing.
Tournament Prep
Mechanical parts, sourced & timed
Use this as your pre-round checklist. Memorize the source citation. Time yourself to the delivery target.
- Bill / Number
- H.R. 88 — A Bill to Put Free Water Bottle Filling Stations in Every Public School
- Funding source
- $75M competitive grant program through ED facilities account.
- Timeline
- Install within 2 years.
- Realistic — bottle-filler retrofits run $1-3K and need no permitting.
- Enforcing agency
- Department of Education (facilities grant compliance).
- Yes — same mechanism as existing school-infrastructure grants.
- Penalty for non-compliance
- Forfeiture of facilities-grant share.
- Source citation
- Patel et al. (2019), American Journal of Public Health — ajph.aphapublications.org.
- Delivery time (read aloud)
- 55s
Strongest counter-argument
Existing fountains already meet drinking-water needs; this is duplicative spending.
Your pre-emptive answer
Post-COVID, most districts shut fountains down; filling stations are how kids actually drink water now. EPA lead-monitoring data (2023) shows fountains in 1-in-5 schools test above action levels.