Green Buckingham – Buckingham’s new water bottle refill station

Buckingham got a bit greener this week with the opening of a new drinking water fountain for refilling bottles in Chandos Park. The new equipment is an initiative by the Town Council to both help reduce the plastic waste produced by the town and provide a new service for its residents. The Town Council received £2,995 from Buckinghamshire County Council’s Local Area Forum towards the cost of the purchase and installation.
Visitors to the park can now fill up their drinks bottles after working up a sweat – or when simply enjoying a stroll on a hot day – with fresh, healthy water, rather than having to leave the park to purchase new drinks, saving themselves money and reducing the environmental impact of single use plastics. The fountain, located opposite the tennis courts, is the first water refill station to be installed in Buckingham – but hopefully not the last!
It was officially opened to the public on Thursday 16th July by Town Mayor, Cllr. Geraldine Collins and Buckinghamshire Councillor Warren Whyte, who chaired the Local Area Forum when the funding was awarded.
Cllr. Ruth Newell, Chair of the Environment Committee said: “It is great to finally have the water bottle filling station installed after originally deciding we wanted one a couple of years ago and we are grateful to the local area forum for their generous grant to fund it. It will be excellent to be able to use tap water and to reduce on the plastic waste from single use water bottles, so I welcome the positive impact on our environment and with our climate emergency action plan’.
The bottle filling station looks smart and appealing, but is also extremely easy to use. Being Water Regulations Advisory Scheme approved, it meets all water authority and Government guidelines in terms of safety and hygiene. The unit is strong; the E-coat immersion covered heavy-gauge steel body makes the unit both weather-proof and vandal resistant, ensuring that the water dispenser remains active for years to come.