+lumbricus Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Hi, i just saw the new group "Public tapwater points". I think it's a good idea. Let's waymark drinking water fountains.(Are they called fountains?) What do you think? -lumbricus Quote Link to comment
+BruceS Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 I would look at the discussion of this the last time this came up and you will see why it did not make it as a category before. Quote Link to comment
+lumbricus Posted August 27, 2012 Author Share Posted August 27, 2012 Thanks Bruce. I forgot that we have a search function http://portal.Groundspeak.com/forums/thread/35528.aspx Quote Link to comment
+fi67 Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 While it is undoubtedly true that drinking water is one of the most important things for mankind as well as very underestimated and disrespected here in the first world, I fear I cannot say the same of tap fountains. What I have seen in many countries is usually not worth a visit, uninspired mass production units in all kinds of public places. Crossroads and public waste bins are also useful, all of them do not qualify for a Waymarking category. Just my opinion. Let's see what others have to say! Quote Link to comment
+a1elec Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 It looks like they have created a group and it is in the peer review lets see how many want it as currently it is no looking like making it. Too my way of thinking I agree with fi67 way of thinking Quote Link to comment
+a1elec Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 (edited) It looks like they have created a group and it is in the peer review lets see how many want it as currently it is no looking like making it. Too my way of thinking I agree with fi67 way of thinking sorry double click Edited August 31, 2012 by a1elec Quote Link to comment
+stinger503 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 " It looks like they have created a group and it is in the peer review lets see how many want it as currently it is no looking like making it." Too be honest though the description doesn't look great. The best category idea ever wouldn't pass if it looks bad. I do think that Public Drinking Fountains are a good possible category if presented right with two reasons: 1. Possible Historical, Artistic, Cultural value. Fountains come in a wide variety of forms, just do a quick Google search of drinking fountain and you can see dozens of unique styles. Water fountains aren't a standard thing throughout the world like garbage receptacles either, they vary by region with many cities establishing water fountains only as public drinking water became widely used. This gives many cities or towns unique histories. As an example Hamilton, Ontario's water fountains were introduced only after threats of cholera epidemics. 2. Useful to Waymarkers Many waymarkers are on trails, parks or exploring an urban city somewhere. Knowing where a water fountain is can be extremely useful. Similar categories include Playgrounds, Trail Heads, and Parks. As for prevalence, I don't have statistics but I'd bet many cities are abandoning water fountains due to bottled water and maintenance costs. As I said above, it very much depends on the region. I walked around Toronto the past couple days and only saw 1 water fountain (a unique type that I had never seen before at that). In my hometown there are none. They are hardly "everywhere". Quote Link to comment
+fi67 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I did the google search and I must say the results are worse than what I expected. There are some interesting and unique designs around, no doubt, but they are likely to completely disappear in the sheer mass of the rest. In my experience categories are almost never useful. A almost complete reference of drinking fountains (or a lot of other objects) would be useful, a random selection of single submissions spread around the globe is not. In my experience most categories that tried to be useful are doing below average, because useful has often been used as an excuse for deficiencies in the peer review criteria. Quote Link to comment
+UMainah Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I did a google image search for "public drinking fountain" and got better results than I was expecting. https://www.google.com/search?q=outdoor+drinking+fountain&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=8m9DUIG_DKbH6gGk9IHYCg&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1282&bih=633#hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=public+drinking+fountain&oq=public+drinking+fountain&gs_l=img.12..0j0i24l3j0i5i24l3.17278.18610.2.24407.2.2.0.0.0.0.137.263.0j2.2.0...0.0...1c.m9J1ZGcvRCE&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=7edc4612ea671fab&biw=1282&bih=633 In my experience, I found public drinking fountains pretty rare. You always see them inside of stores and schools, but not too often out in the open. The proposed category was poorly written though. Quote Link to comment
+UMainah Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Any smartphone users out there? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mdc.wetap#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwiY29tLm1kYy53ZXRhcCJd http://www.pacinst.org/wetap/index.htm https://www.facebook.com/WeTapApp http://www.wetap.org Quote Link to comment
+terratin Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I just read that the Netherlands plan to build thousands of public water taps all over the country in order to counteract obesty related to sweet drinks. As this suggested category is Dutch I suppose there's a connection. Mrs. terratin Quote Link to comment
+dreamhummie Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 I just read that the Netherlands plan to build thousands of public water taps all over the country in order to counteract obesty related to sweet drinks. As this suggested category is Dutch I suppose there's a connection. Mrs. terratin Yes indeed Mrs. terratin. I heard about this Dutch initiative here is the link (sorry its in Dutch) LINK Thousands of Free Drinking Points in The Netherlands are made until 2020. So i think it's a good idea because other Countries wil follow this Dutch initiative. Grtz John. Quote Link to comment
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