Whether it’s filling your cup from the tap or buying a bottle from the store, filtered drinking water is a luxury most in the Tri-State enjoy.
During the University of Evansville’s 2022 Changemaker Challenge, 18-year-old Castle High School graduate Jack Deig noticed trends concerning a lack of public access to clean water.
“There are people living on the streets who don’t have reliable access to clean public drinking water,” he says. “There’s only one working outdoor public water fountain in all of Downtown Evansville, and it’s at Mickey’s Kingdom, and it’s off for a quarter of the year.”
Deig realized he could further develop his idea and in April founded Hydration Station, a nonprofit increasing accessibility to clean drinking water by installing free water dispensers throughout Evansville.
Hydration Station opened its first Oasis water dispensing system outdoors on the campus of the University of Evansville, 1800 Lincoln Ave., in October 2023. Seven months later, the first public Hydration Station was launched adjacent to Evansville Water & Sewer Utility’s Sunrise Pump Station, 1200 Waterworks Road, on the Downtown Ohio riverfront.
