For several years now, Stadtwerke Kevelaer and NiersEnergie have been promoting sustainability and healthy drinking habits and handing out reusable drinking bottles to first-graders when they start school. To ensure that these can be refilled again and again at school, the St. Antonius elementary school has now also been equipped with a water dispenser after the secondary schools in the Marienstadt. Principal Andreas Berndt and Wolfgang Toonen from Stadtwerke Kevelaer tested the new device together with some of the pupils and quickly noticed that, regardless of whether the water is still, medium or carbonated, tapping it from the water dispenser themselves encourages the children to drink more.
"Great relief"
"And that's a good thing," says Toonen happily, "because we know how important it is for children to drink enough throughout the day in order to be able to concentrate on learning. And fresh water is much better for this than juices and soft drinks". Principal Berndt adds: "The water dispenser is a great relief for our pupils. They no longer have to lug heavy, full drinking bottles to school, but can tap fresh, free water from the dispenser at any time. We are convinced that this great offer will be well received." The fact that the children are also made more aware of sustainability is another positive effect, they both believe. This is because the reusable bottles mean that Tetrapacks or disposable bottles can be dispensed with. And as the drinking water is pumped in Kevelaer, the transportation route from the manufacturer to the supermarket, which is otherwise required for drinks brought from home, is also eliminated.
Drinking water is one of the best controlled foods in Germany. The water dispenser is equipped with a mechanical filter and UV light to ensure that the tap water from the dispenser continues to meet the highest quality standards. This means that the pupils and teachers at St. Antonius Primary School can now enjoy drinking water without any problems.