Students now have their choice of distilled or filtered water in the Cesar Chavez Student Center.

Beginning this semester, SF State’s Governing Board made it possible for students and faculty to fill up their water bottles while also getting a better quality of water by installing three filtered water stations.

According to Maria Liliana Cortez, chair of the governance board, the decision was made by SF State’s Master Plan Committee. The committee, which decides on physical changes to the Cesar Chavez Student Center building, informed the governance board about their intent to provide students with filtered water last year. The board agreed and the student center set up free filtered water stations with an extra spout for water bottles, next to the distilled water fountains. The three filtered water fountains cost the student center $9,000.

“Our goal is to provide services for students at little or no cost,” Cortez said “And in my experience, filtered water is cleaner than regular fountain water.”

The filtered water fountains have an extra spout for students to fill up any size water bottle as well as the usual fountain for students who want a quick drink before class. Cortez said the student center has received positive feedback on the filtered water fountains.

“I’d drink out of a hose if it was available,” said Nathan Greene, a transfer student from Auburn, California. “The school I transferred from didn’t have filtered water and the spout makes it easier for me to fill up my water bottle.”

For students like Greene, who say they have no preference in whether their water is distilled or filtered, the spout is the only reason why they choose to use the filtered water stations. However, there are other students who use the stations to receive a better quality of water.

SF State student Mike Weber says he uses them frequently because he is concerned about water quality.

“I use (the filtered water stations) because filtered water is cleaner (than distilled) and because the sign says that it’s filtered and I believe that it is,” said Weber.

There are three filtered water fountains located on campus. The one on the terrace level of the student center located outside of the men and women’s restrooms and the fountain next to the Gold Coast Grill on the plaza level are the two most trafficked stations according to Cortez.

The SF State Bookstore hosts the third filtered water station, which according to the Governing Board is rarely used because it is located in the corner of the bookstore and is hard for students to see.

It is up to SF State’s Office of Capital Planning, Design & Construction (CPDC) to decide whether or not the university will follow the student center’s lead and set up filtered water stations around the campus. While SF State’s Campus Master Plan mentions a better quality of water, there is no mention of adding filtered water stations.