Drinking Fountain & Hydration Station Logger

Field guide: Drinking Fountain & Hydration Station Logger

Public drinking fountains sit at an awkward intersection: they're plumbing fixtures (pressure, valves, drains), sanitation surfaces (a thousand mouths a week, ideally not touching the bubbler), accessibility hardware (spout heights and knee clearances are specified in ADA standards), and — since Flint put it on every agenda — water-quality sampling points, because older fountains and their upstream plumbing are documented lead sources. One walkup inspection can check all four, and this logger structures exactly that.

The water-quality field tracks the unit's status in your lead-testing program rather than the result itself: tested-and-passed, due, awaiting results, or failed-and-off. Fountains that fail stay logged and locked until remediation (fixture replacement usually fixes it — older bubbler valves and lead-soldered connections are the typical culprits). The flush-date field matters more than it looks: water stagnating in fixture plumbing over winter or closures is what concentrates metals and grows biofilm.

Field tips

• A good bubbler arc (50–100 mm) is the spec — too low forces mouth contact with the guard, too high splashes the basin into the drain's biofilm.
• After seasonal shutdowns, flush each unit several minutes before re-opening and log the date — first-draw water after stagnation is the worst-case sample.
• Filter status lights on bottle fillers are routinely ignored until flow drops; log RED lights as service-needed so filters get budget lines.

Records are stored only in this browser (localStorage) — export regularly. This tool aids field documentation; it does not replace your agency's official inspection procedures or engineering judgment.