By Jamie Miller
After months of being out of commission, Grand Rapids Community College has removed the rusted out drinking fountain and bottle filler on the third floor of Raleigh J Finkelstein Hall.
The Collegiate contacted the building manager Sept. 16, and the fountain was removed the following day. The fountain, located across from the elevator near the dean’s office, had been out of commission for months after it was damaged by an unknown substance. Work to install the new fountain began Sept. 19 and was completed the next day.
“It appears that someone poured something acidic down the drain,” said GRCC’s master plumber Martin DeVries.
This was enough to rust stainless steel, which DeVries said is pretty unusual.
“Stainless steel never rusts,” he said.
DeVries estimated that the fountain would cost around $2,800 to replace.
While DeVries is not sure exactly what caused the damage to the fountain, he advises that people “only put water down drinking fountains.”
“On the bright side,” DeVries said, “The new one will have a filter, both the bubbler and the bottle filler will have a filter.”
The fountain that was damaged did not filter the water it dispensed, DeVries said.
