What's Wrong with This Photo - Drinking Fountain - 5/16/2021
Drinking Fountain Installation
Please look at the photo on the right. What you are seeing is a drinking fountain installed near two toilet rooms in a retail automobile tire sales and service store in Columbus, GA. Regarding the drinking fountain and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), what’s wrong? HINT: That is a tall drinking fountain, with the spout more than 40 inches above the finished floor.
2010 ADA Standard 211.2, [Drinking Fountain] Minimum Number, states, “No fewer than two drinking fountains shall be provided. One drinking fountain shall comply with [Standards] 602.1 through 602.6 and one drinking fountain shall comply with [Standard] 602.7.” There is an exception when a single drinking fountain complies with [Standards] 602.1 through 602.6 and 602.7, it shall be permitted to be substituted for two separate drinking fountains.
Standards 602.1 through 602.6 cover drinking fountains for people sitting and Standard 602.7 covers drinking fountains for people standing. So there must be two drinking fountains, one for people in a sitting position, such as disabled individuals in a wheelchair, and another for people who are standing, because some disabilities do not allow people to sit. The graphic below is representative of these installations.
ADA Compliant Drinking Fountain Installation
In choosing which accessible elements to provide in an alteration, priority should be given to those elements that will provide the greatest access, in the following order:
(i) An accessible entrance;
(ii) An accessible route to the altered area;
(iii) At least one accessible restroom for each sex or a single unisex restroom;
(iv) Accessible telephones;
(v) Accessible drinking fountains; and
(vi) When possible, additional accessible elements such as parking, storage, and alarms.
SUMMARY: Facilities that choose to provide drinking fountains must comply with the ADA Standards for accessible drinking fountains. In most cases, two drinking fountains will be required, one for people sitting and one for people standing.
And one more thing I have to mention, and not having to do with the ADA, but installing a drinking fountain in front of several wall mounted electrical panels is not very smart. Drinking fountains are know to allow water onto the floor just because of the way they work. So the poor electrician who has to try to reach the electrical panels as part of periodic maintenance needs to be very careful not to touch this drinking fountain or stand in pooled water when do his electrical work. This installation is a serious hazard for electrocution.
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