TABLE 1.

Barriers to and Strategies for Increasing Water Access and Intake in School and Child Care Settings

Barrier		Strategy
Poor drinking water quality	Contaminants (lead, arsenic)	Increase the availability of safe, palatable drinking water	Train personnel about drinking water quality issues
	Poor taste (warm, unpalatable)		Test drinking water for contaminants
	Poor appearance (discolored)		Develop an action plan for removing contaminants and provide alternate water sources if they exist
			Publicize testing/remediation efforts to parents, personnel, and students
			Provide more appealing forms of water (e.g., filtered, refrigerated, flavored with fruit slices)
Costs to increase access to safe, palatable drinking water	Cost associated with drinking water testing	Seek funding for school water-related programs	Seek federal, state, or municipal funding (e.g., bonds, school district funds)
	Repair and maintenance costs (e.g., old drinking water–related infrastructure)		Apply for foundation grants (e.g., Freddie Mac foundation, 3M Community Giving)
	Cost for removal of drinking water contaminants		Partner with private industry (e.g., reusable water bottle companies, filter manufacturers)
	Labor costs to maintain water sources
Student, parent, and personnel preferences for beverages other than tap water	Increased preferences for sugary beverages	Improve student, parent, and personnel preferences for tap water	Provide palatable drinking water (e.g., cold, filtered, fruit flavored)
	Decreased preference for tap water owing to the taste, convenience, and perceived quality of bottled water		Set hygiene and maintenance standards for drinking water outlets
			Implement multimedia educational campaigns
			Encourage parents and school/child care personnel to model drinking tap water