Title 17. Education

Chapter 1. General School Law

Part II. Parish School Boards

Subpart B. Powers and Duties of School Boards and Parish Superintendents

17:100.14       Public school buildings; water bottle filling stations

A. (1) Any new school building and any existing school building that undergoes a major plumbing renovation shall include the following: 

(a) At least one water bottle filling station per two hundred people projected to occupy the school building. 

(b) At least one water bottle filling station on each floor of the school building. 

(c) At least one water bottle filling station located near all cafeterias, gymnasiums, outdoor recreation spaces, and other high-traffic areas. 

(2) A city, parish, or other local public school board may install more filling stations than provided in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, as deemed appropriate. 

(3) Plans for an existing school building may include retrofitting existing drinking fountains into water bottle filling stations. 

B. For purposes of this Section: 

(1) A “major plumbing renovation” to an existing school building means the replacement, repair, alteration, or upgrade of water systems or fixtures within an existing facility, which involves more than fifty percent of the fixtures in the facility, even if such renovation does not include any structural change to the facility. Such renovation shall not include repairs done as a result of damages from a natural disaster. 

(2) “Water bottle filling station” means a water dispenser, accessible to all people in compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, that dispenses clean drinking water directly into a bottle or other drinking container. A water bottle filling station shall be considered a drinking fountain for purposes of the International Plumbing Code, as incorporated within the State Uniform Construction Code. 

Added by Acts 2021, No. 363, § 2.