Student housing facilities at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa now feature water filling stations in each of its 11 communities. The water stations that were installed replaced existing water fountains and feature refrigerated, filtered bottle fillers and drinking fountains with high and low spout options that are ADA compliant.
“I really enjoy seeing the new improvements that are being done and implemented in the student resident spaces, especially these new water fountains that allow students to easily fill their bottles,” said Angeline Roslin, Hale Aloha ʻIlima Tower resident assistant (RA). “As a current RA, I love seeing the joy in our residents’ faces and hearing the positive responses from them about how much of an improvement it is from the last water stations we had.”
The water stations were installed over the winter break and start of the spring 2024 semester. Student Housing Services (SHS) is able to track usage and says the 12 new water stations are already being used by student residents an average 106 times a day.
“Though this is a smaller improvement project it’s very gratifying as this has been a long standing request from our residents,” said David Akana, the UH Mānoa SHS Interim Director. “This is the latest of a number of improvements made at Mānoa student housing since the end of the spring 2023 semester and there is much more to come.”
An example of another upcoming improvement project is the renovation of the common spaces at the four Hale Aloha Towers scheduled for summer 2024. Hale Aloha residents recently provided input to the design team on what those spaces should include. Improvements made in 2023 include new mattresses; improved WiFi; repairs to hundreds of windows, bed frames and air conditioning units and much more.
SHS began planning and executing its plans to improve the facilities after being placed under the Office of the Vice President for Administration (VPA). Multiple VPA units are now coordinating with SHS including the Office of Project Management Delivery, the Office of Systems Integration, the Facilities Business Office and the Office of Campus Operation and Facilities, which is responsible for the recent repairs and upgrades.
The water station project cost around $270,000 and was funded by the student housing reserve fund. The stations were installed by Kiewit Building Group with the assistance of their subcontractors, Commercial Plumbing, Sansei Electric and PMJ Builders.
