Pat Bohan , director of City Assets stands next to members of the team who helped invent the fire hyrdrant water fountains (Tiffany Goodwein/CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

water bottle required

Water for all: City invention aims to boost accessibility to clean drinking water

Mar 25, 2022 | 5:59 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB— With a turn of the taps clean drinking water flows and is ready to drink in a water bottle. But the water doesn’t exactly come out of a typical water fountain. Instead it comes out of a fire hydrant. The innovative

product is an invention by city staff.

” The hydrant is fully functional right now it is basically live. So we are able to access water just by turning the tap, just like in your household,” explained John Reeder, water and sewer operator with The City of Medicine Hat.

The water that comes out of fire hydrants is potable and safe to drink, according to the city. Ten fire hydrant water stations will be installed, with five of them in the downtown area.

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Pat Bohan, director of City Assets with the City of Medicine Hat said staff came up with the idea last summer as a way to increase accessibility to drinking water when temperatures soared.

” During the heat of last summer it became really apparent that some of our citizens were being impacted by this heat wave and their access to fresh clean water, and our team over the course of the winter gave some thought about how they might be able to serve the community a little better,” he said.

The team got to work, utilizing recycled materials from the city to build the water fountains. Each one, Reeder said, takes about 45 minutes to construct.

Contrary to what you might think, the city says the fountains won’t impede fire crews from accessing the hydrants, and crews can still power up their hoses in the event of a fire.

Bohan said the city aims to have all 10 fountains installed by the middle of May. Plans are also in the works to install some along the city’s trail system.