De Anza College’s historic campus has served thousands of students and faculty for almost 60 years. While renovations and brand new buildings have been added to update the campus, one big problem remains; easy access to drinking water.
Our campus stretches across 112 acres, containing approximately 60 buildings and multiple fields and courts for athletic teams. According to last spring’s school census, our student enrollment nearly totalled 40,000 part- and full-time students.
These numbers illustrate the high foot-traffic at De Anza, yet across the entire campus, La Voz approximated a mere 37 water fountains.
While 37 may seem like an adequate number of drinking fountains, it is insufficient considering the campus’ size.
For perspective, there is one water fountain for every 3 acres of the 112 acre campus, or 130,680 square feet. That means for every 2.2 football field lengths, students would only have access to one water fountain, which may not have a bottle refilling station.
While these numbers do not represent the distance between every water fountain location on campus, it demonstrates the lack of availability of them.
Ongoing bathroom renovations implemented under Measure G, also limit drinking fountain accessibility to the fountains that are attached to those facilities.
Measure G is a district-wide bond of nearly $1 billion in funds that is consolidated by ongoing local property taxes. A quarter of this measure funds several projects across De Anza, but provides no funds or consideration of new water fountains, while multiple projects and millions in funds are being directed to “modernize” certain areas of campus.
The L quad bathroom is one of the restrooms that has been under construction since summer 2025, with its completion date recently pushed back to July. All three facilities under construction have water fountains which are inaccessible until the construction completion.
While some buildings contain multiple water fountains with water bottle refilling stations, others are without the amenity, such as the Pride Center. Its faculty coordinator, Jamie Pelusi, said they have resorted to filling up jugs in the Learning Center West’s water fountain.
Campus maps do not indicate where water fountains can be found and with an inconsistent amount in each area, many students resort to just buying drinks from vending machines or the Campus Center.
On the pool deck there are four water fountains and water bottle refilling stations, but are intended for athletic teams as one would need to walk down steep steps to access them. Onlookers would need to resort to a vending machine along the viewing deck for a beverage.
To add insult to injury, most water fountains are found inside buildings, often hidden around random corners. While this may create easier access for the students and staff in the building, individuals entering the building just to find water may have a hard time locating any.
To keep our campus hydrated and happy, De Anza needs to implement more water fountains, in different areas and in consideration of students’ typical routines and routes across campus.
