More than 100 schools in California's Central Valley will receive water purification stations under a new program designed to give kids fresh water instead of sugary drinks with lunch. Capital Public Radio's Bob Moffitt reports.
The California Endowment created the pilot project called "Agua For All" and has joined with three regional groups in the state to identify schools that need water fountains or water filtration systems.
Sarah Buck with the Rural Community Assistance Corporation says 120 schools will receive new fountains.
Buck: "The water stations that we're putting in? Some of them we're putting in at schools that have safe water. Some of them we're putting in at schools that don't. So, it's not just to increase access to safe water but also to increase consumption so that these communities overall are healthier and not facing the problems like diabetes and obesity."
She says 2,500 California schools lack drinking fountains where children eat. Six hundred schools don't have drinkable water.