• kameecoding@lemmy.world
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    24 hours ago

    Meanwhile my shitty little European town has recently installed a fountain for drinking, filling up your bottle and also with a dog drink station, completely free.

    • Itsamelemmy@lemmy.zip
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      21 hours ago

      They have those at a lot of parks that I take my dogs to in my state in the US too. Usually free poop bags too, and yet half still can’t be bothered.

    • Random Dent@lemmy.ml
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      23 hours ago

      Where I live in Canada has started turning fire hydrants into free drinking fountains during the summer for the last couple of years.

    • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      “Free”

      Nothing is free

      Someone paid for the fountain. Either you, your neighbor, your friend, or your fellow countryman. But someone.

      Why nickel and dime everyone that is probably never going to even see the fountain instead of letting the people that want/need pay for it?

      Cold filtered water at just a single park you regularly go to is probably worth 3 bucks a month.

      If extra money went to park improvements, that would be even better.

      I don’t see why everyone wants “free” when it’s just a hidden cost that you’re probably paying anyways. Yes, probably costs more for the people that use the service more, but that’s the way it should be.

      Personally I’d rather save 20 dollars on my taxes and bring water to the park. Even still tap water is just fine.

      Why would I even want to pay 5 dollars more in taxes so someone doesn’t have to bring a water bottle?

      This is a premium service that shouldn’t be the burden of the taxpayer.

      • heavydust@sh.itjust.works
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        6 hours ago

        Why nickel and dime everyone

        Water is essential to human life. Go read a book.

        This is a premium service

        Water is not a premium service. Really, try reading a book, it will make you very smart soon enough.

      • AppleTea@lemmy.zip
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        9 hours ago

        Personally I’d rather save 20 dollars on my taxes

        woah, bub, inflation is bad but it’s not that bad. A fountain would come out to… like maybe a dime at most split between taxpayers. Depending on what budget it’s coming out of, like if it were a federal park, probably less than a full penny.

      • Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        19 hours ago

        Man, lotta vague libertarian energy here, but to answer your question:

        Why nickel and dime everyone that is probably never going to even see the fountain instead of letting the people that want/need pay for it?

        In general, the answer to this usually boils down to one of two answers:

        1. choosing instead to directly nickel and dime people at the point of service comes with overhead and is wildly inefficient. You want to add an internet connection to every public water fountain? Or at the very least wire them with electricity to power some kind of vending machine system? Or perhaps have a person standing there to charge people? Someone will have to pay extra for any additional steps in what could otherwise just be, well, a simple faucet.

        2. More often than not, the people that need things the most are not the people who can pay for them. These people still need to survive, because letting the poor suffer and die will still cost you and everyone else money.

        And study after study shows that when we all pay a little to help people in general, we can all save a lot in, say, street sanitization, law enforcement, healthcare services, etc. Things that you have to provide especially if people can’t afford it.

      • Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.de
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        20 hours ago

        I am afraid to ask, but why do you hate society and your fellow countrymen so much? If the idea of taxes being used to help people fills you with so much rage, then I hope you have access to free mental health so you can figure out why you hate people so much

      • Itsamelemmy@lemmy.zip
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        21 hours ago

        Water is a basic human right. You think $20 is going to water fountains? Its probably half a cent of your taxes.

        As for what was the op, its probably nothing in taxes as the company plans to make money off the chilled and filtered to offset the cost of installing the units. The government your taxes pay for probably mandated the free tap to let them install them.

        • Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.de
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          20 hours ago

          Americans when their taxes are given to billionaires through kepto defense contracts or when billions are given to Israel to fund genocide: …😴…zzzzzzzzzz…😴…zzzzzz…😴

          Americans when taxes are used to help people: 😡😡😡😡😡

      • Hiro8811@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        Because access to clean water is a human right. No one is gonna die if the water is warm but someone will die if they don’t have water.

      • Starmancy42@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        20 hours ago

        I understand this may come as a shock to you, but the world does not revolve around the comfort of individuals. Why do people like you throw such a hissy fit when your taxes goes to bettering people’s lives around you? Where’s your outrage for all the ways our Tax Dollars are actually wasted? Your selfish mindset does more to harm society than prevent any form of waste; you’re just acting entitled over nothing.

      • Cataphract@lemmy.ml
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        20 hours ago

        @Sludgeyy@lemmy.world, You need to legitimately check yourself. So many half-ass comments get put up without taking a second of researching before you spout off “knowledge”… I’m guessing you’re considering this “Common Sense”? So you don’t have to actually look into it and test your inner resolve to accept new information.

        Make Public Drinking Water Fountains Great Again

        A gallon of tap water from typical municipal water systems costs about half a cent, making drinking fountains the cheapest hydration source available in public spaces…


        it remains far cheaper than the cost of bottled water, which typically ranges from $1 to $5 per gallon, or about 200 to 1,000 times more than tap water. (High-end bottled waters can be even far more costly.) These costs do not include the environmental costs of the bottled water industry.


        A great side benefit: having to test and maintain public water sources for pollutants that residents might not know to report!

        comprehensive testing of drinking fountains, implementation of standard protocols for fountain maintenance, and a nationwide effort to replace old water infrastructure, which can be the source of lead and other contaminants.

        This is a ROI (return on investment) done right on a community level. Encourage the kids to have a reusable water bottle or give that junky plastic bottle a 2nd use. You do know that kids in a park will go through a water bottle right? Are you buying packages of plastic water bottles for 1,000x the price the fountain could give you!?!?!

        I guarantee you, your neighbor, your friend, and your countrymen, that your community and children are saving money and the environment while taking a positive stance to educate and properly use our countries resources for it’s citizens. Please stop spreading misinformation like the** 20$!!!**(made up number in your head) and realize this is what taxes are actually for, things that actually help it’s citizens and reduces the cost of living.

        edit: formatting error