Student initiative and city stormwater team unveil refillable water station at Jacksonville High School

Hadley, president of the Jacksonville High School environmental club, and a member of the city of Jacksonville’s stormwater water quality team unveiled a new refillable water bottle station at the school during a graduation‑time presentation. The unit was funded by student fundraising matched with municipal support, speakers said.

Hadley told the group she began the environmental protection program in her sophomore year and pushed to install refillable stations because Jacksonville High was "the only one in the county that doesn't have any." The student described two fundraisers: Santa photo sessions with a QR-code donation board and a business outreach called the "Fill It Forward" initiative. "We ended up raising $665 through that," Hadley said, thanking donors.

A stormwater team member said Hadley brought the idea to the city's stormwater water quality team in September 2025. The official said the proposal called for four refill fountains across three school buildings that lacked refill stations, and that the stormwater department "pulled funds and bought the unit that you see behind us." The city official added that the staff provided branded "reuse it, refill it" bottles for students.

City staff described the drinking water treatment that serves the system. "The water comes from the Black Creek and the Castlehane Aquifers," the stormwater team member said, and it is processed at the city's nano‑filtration plant and through microfiltration before distribution. The official framed the station as both a convenience and an environmental step: "Plastic water bottles is the number 1 contaminant that we pick up out of the New River on a weekly basis," the official said, urging students to use the refillable bottles to reduce litter in local waterways.

Participants celebrated the installation with a brief toast and a demonstration of the unit. The stormwater team member said the department would provide boxed bottles for students and encouraged continued use to keep plastic out of local streams. There were no formal votes or policy actions recorded at the event; the presentation was a recognition and handover of the new station.

The student club and the city official said the station is already in use and presented it as a model for expanding refillable options in other city and school buildings.