Shannon Anderson

Filling his water bottle before track practice, sophomore Grant Aden dares to drink the red-filtered water. Aden brings his reusable water bottle to school every day. “I don’t really care, I’m pretty sure it just filters out iron and stuff,” Aden said.

Over 357,161 bottles of water have been filled at school from the water fountains. But lately, as students approach the fountain they notice a change: a red light on the filter status.

“I got these [fountains] a few years ago by writing a grant to St. Louis County, to use, reuse and recycle–all that stuff—because the bottle filler is a neat feature,” building manager Scott Bollmann said.

But the feature’s filter light is causing people, janitor Anthony Harlan included, to question its significance.

“I did ask my supervisor about the status of the filter in the light. But it was never in our job description–they never told us about it.  I drink water from it too, and noticed the first time it turned red. It doesn’t really taste different. It’s been that way for a few months now, I kind of forgot what it tasted like when it was green,” Harlan said.

For junior Thomas Best, the flavor is noticeably different.

“I only tasted the non-red ones my sophomore year, and it was usually yellow. It’s gross,” Best said. “I can definitely taste the difference between a red light and a green one.”

However, freshman Hermauhn Faulkner has a different opinion.

“It doesn’t really bother me,” Faulkner said. “It tastes normal.”

While Faulkner believes the water is just as good as filtered water, Janitor Anthony Harlan noticed a metallic flavor similar to Best’s description.

“When you leave the water in the lead pipes overnight, that’s why [it tastes like that]. In the morning, you’re supposed to let the cold water run a bit,” Harlan said.

Yet the secret behind the filter might surprise you.

“There is no filter. It’s supposed to tell you how many water bottles are saved from the landfill. These come with a filter, but the filters are expensive. It’s simply a timer type of setting. A certain number of bottles register up, and all of a sudden, it clicks over to the yellow, and then it clicks to red,” Bollmann said.

Turning the filter light back to green just takes a simple reset button. As of now, though, students are hesitant about refilling their bottles.

“It’s kind of funny to watch kids go up to it and go, ‘Oh, red, no!’” Bollmann said.

But the truth is that the water is fine. It has already gone through St. Louis County’s filtration system and is just like the tap water at home.

“If we don’t get a notice [from the water company], you can have pretty good assurance that you’re not going to be harmed by drinking the water. It has a little flavor and a little coloring to it,” Bollmann said. “But I’ve seen my dog drink out of the pond and I guess she’s still hanging on.”