A $5,000 grant isn’t supposed to change campus infrastructure.

But for UW students Isabelle Lee and Giordana Staudohar, it became the starting point of a campaign that led Campus Housing to commit $138,000 into installing water fountains in residences.

For many students living in traditional-style residences, access to drinking water isn’t as simple as it sounds. Currently, there are a total of four water fountains in V1 and REV combined, servicing almost 2,400 students. Some are required to walk outside to reach the fountains, and others have reported dissatisfaction with the cleanliness of communal kitchen and bathroom sinks. CMH — UW’s newest dorm — was built without a single water fountain in its halls.

Lee and Staudohar experienced this exact inconvenience during their time in residence. When a class discussion prompted them to come up with a health issue on campus that could be addressed by a student initiative, hydration immediately came to mind.

“I just remember having to fill up my Brita at the bathroom sink and thinking, there has to be a better way,” Staudohar recalled. What had started as a simple conversation quickly evolved into something more. “We left the class and I turned to [Staudohar] and I was like, I can’t stop thinking about this project. We have to do something,” Lee said.

To turn the idea into something tangible, they applied to the Change Engine — an annual competition hosted by WUSA that invites students to pitch their advocacy ideas for the chance to win funding, mentorship, and support.

Reflecting on their win, Staudohar noted how it “lit the fire under [them]” to launch their initiative. Lee added that having WUSA’s support was validating: “For them to put their trust in us to follow through with this and use the money towards something that’s really beneficial for students is a really big honour.”

The pair initially planned to use the funding to install one water fountain, but later realized they could make a bigger impact by proving there was a demand for water fountains to Campus Housing through a survey and pilot test.

Survey participants were gathered through lecture visits, cold emails to professors, and residence pop-up events. “We lure them in with the Costco cookies and all of our snacks and they would ask us, what is this initiative?” Staudohar explained. “…every single student we talked to, their face changed and they’re like, oh my gosh, I love that. I wish I had a water fountain.”

Nearly 600 responses collected across all faculties revealed a clear consensus: An overwhelming majority of students felt that access to water in residence is inadequate and strongly supported the addition of water fountains near their living quarters.

The next phase of the campaign was pilot testing. With the help of residence life dons Angelica Marsili and Skyler Xiang, water coolers were set up in a V1 lounge and outside a don’s room in REV. Water consumption was tracked by noting the times jugs were emptied and replaced. Over the five day testing period, 45L of water per residence was consumed, averaging to about 1L per person. These results proved that if water was made accessible, students would use it.

Campus Housing has since committed $138,000 to installing 26 fountains in V1 and 20 in REV, ensuring that there will be a water fountain in every V1 building and on every floor in REV. Renovations are scheduled for completion by fall 2027.

In the future, h2oloo may expand to other residences or even involve students at other universities. “​​Waterloo is one of the biggest universities in Ontario. So if we are having such a shortage of water fountains, then what’s to say that other universities are not experiencing the same thing?” Lee speculated.

As health students, Lee and Staudohar are especially passionate about encouraging students to choose water over sugary drinks for its benefits on academic performance, physical and mental health, and overall well-being. Lee acknowledged, “Even though we couldn’t experience the benefits of these fountains as first year students… we can hopefully make this happen for other students and make Waterloo a healthier place.”

Both students emphasized that the experience reshaped their confidence and perspective on advocacy. They also expressed gratitude towards professor Ashley Amson for sparking their idea through her class discussion and offering them her encouragement, mentorship, and network.

“In first year, I maybe wouldn’t have had the confidence to make that big of an ask,” Staudohar reflected. Working together on h2oloo showed them both that it is worth it to go out and seek change, even if it may feel intimidating. After all, “the worst they can say is no, and in this case they said yes.”

For students interested in starting their own campus initiatives, Lee and Staudohar highlighted the importance of organization, collaboration, and persistence. They acknowledged that the process wasn’t always a linear path. “It’s kind of a cliché saying, but rejection is redirection. This is not the only little project idea that [Lee] and I have had or whatever grant that we’ve applied for,” Staudohar revealed.
“Sometimes it might just take a little bit of idea refinement to get where you want to go.”

Ultimately, the effort paid off. “Water is a universal thing,” Lee remarked. “I think it’s really nice how it brought a bunch of faculties together. It brings a lot of students together, and I think that’s another special thing about this project… it’s a basic human right and it’s really important to us that all students have access to it.”

Staudohar concluded, “There [are] so many things that we’re stressed about as university students, especially as Waterloo students, and accessing water should not have to be one of them. So if we can change that even a little bit, I think we’re doing something right.”

To learn more, find h2oloo on Instagram and LinkedIn.