New Orleans Program Installing Public Water Fountains

Five New Orleans neighborhoods will soon get new public water fountains as part of the city’ Hydrate NOLA program, reports Matt Bloom for KRVS. “The city awarded $60,000 to the program in May to fund six new stations across five neighborhoods, which will expand the program’s existing 12-fountain network.”

According to Bloom, “Parks and Hydrate NOLA partners chose the new locations to cater to New Orleans’ unhoused population, which is especially vulnerable to dehydration and heat-related illness in the summer months.”

The city first began work on a public drinking fountain system during the pandemic, when the closure of businesses and public facilities exacerbated conditions for unhoused residents and made it more difficult than before to access basic needs like bathrooms and drinking water.

According to Bloom, the city has an unhoused population of roughly 1,400, a number city officials hope to bring down. “Our goal is to have a water fountain in all New Orleans neighborhoods, at least half a mile of walking distance from anywhere you are in the city,” said Sarah Parks, executive director of Grace at the Green Light, a local nonprofit.