What if being a New Yorker meant drinking from a network of beautiful fountains? The 100 Fountains competition brought together international artists and designers for a summer-long exhibition of creative drinking fountain concepts.

Winning entries resulted in new, permanent drinking fountains furthering New York City’s reputation as a global leader in design, innovation, and sustainability. Could this be the beginning of a drinking fountain revival in NYC? Yes. We hope this put a dent in the disposable plastic water bottle habit, which totaled 1.25 billion bottles a year in 2012.

NYC has some of the best drinking water in the world. This is thanks to design foresight going back more than a century with well-planned aqueducts, distribution systems, and protected natural watersheds. Lack of funding for infrastructure upgrades and Aquifer pollution may threaten the legacy of the city's great drinking water.

Buying bottled water is increasingly hard to justify, comes packaged in plastic, arrives by mass transport, generates tremendous waste, and increases corporate control of the water market. The more consumers spend on bottled water, the less investment we expect to see in our public water infrastructure.

With 100 Fountains, there was a great opportunity to create new icons for New York City – icons that express sustainability, community, and chic urbanity.

100 Fountains and associated research was generously supported by the Environmental Protection Clinic at the Yale Law School and the Wright-Ingraham Institute.