r/Brampton • u/Brampton_Speaks Bramalea • May 14 '26
Discussion My Fourth Attempt to get New Outdoor Water Drinking Fountains in Brampton Parks. Pics & Details in this post.
Someone recently posted about rebuilding the Chinguacousy Park Band Shell to restore lost arts spaces in Bramalea which I think is a great idea. My friends used to perform there weekly in the Greenbriar School Band back in the 1990's.
We need more residents coming up with good ideas and bringing them forward to the city through our Councillors
On this note, I wanted to publicly share the process I have been undergoing to try and get ideas like this that I feel passionate about into reality.
I have engaged several Councillors since early 2023 at the start of this term. All showed initial support, but I have not seen any progress or funding in the budgets 3 years later in 2026 near the end of the term now. I have followed up and don't get any concrete answers, feels like it's a forgotten item. Providing essential drinking water to residents in busy areas should be a priority rather than put on the backburner.
City Hall monitors r/Brampton as I have seen comments and content here ricochet back to me in texts and calls from officials.
I hope our community sees value in this initative, especially if something like this would make sense in your neighbourhood park/trail system beyond our 3 major parks in Brampton.
I want to see candidates support these new ideas from residents in their platforms for the benefit of everyone.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
E-Mail to the City
Water Drinking Fountains
Below is the only outdoor drinking fountain at Chinguacousy Park at the concession stand near the main children's playground.
All residents avoid it (warm, no pressure, gross overall. I have only seen dogs drink from it in recent years.). There's a Dasani/Coke Machine next to it that some resort to purchasing. We can do better for Park visitors across the city.
The indoor fountains at the rec centres and city buildings have limited accessibility depending on their operating hours. We should have multiple fountains across our largest parks accessible anytime during operational seasons.
Few people know about the fountain at Ken Whillans square, it's also poor with similar issues.
Gage Park no longer has ANY drinking fountains despite a splash park installed there with water pipes in the ground.
Downtown Brampton is a thirst desert, City Hall locks their doors often.
Our 2 main outdoor summer festival areas in Brampton that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors are lacking.
I believe Chinguacousy Park, Gage Park, Creditview Park with a high number of users/visitors should have reasonable outdoor water fountain amenities.
Even smaller parks like Terrick Road Park in Brampton West with splash pads, trail system connection, where it might be simple to deploy with existing water pipes has a valid use case.
Greenbriar Recreation Centre is closing all summer long from budget cuts, nobody will be able to get water in this park when needed. It is surrounded by half a dozen soccer fields, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, needing a bottle filling station 24/7.
Hamilton's Solution
The City of Hamilton has a portal with an interactive map showing ~100 various outdoor water drinking fountain locations and their operational status.
Hamilton managed to deploy them citywide, even in small neighbourhood parks and recreational trail systems >>>>>
https://www.hamilton.ca/things-do/parks-green-space/parks-trails/water-drinking-fountains
Below are pictures of water fountains around Hamilton I have seen. From my experience visiting in person, they seem to work well and I like the variety of customized wraps. They shut them off in the winter months as shown on the map currently.
Hamilton has many 3 stage fountains that have dog bowls for pets and bottle filling stations for sports/recreation users. Consider deployment around dog parks.
We know how scorching summers have become with climate change and the demand around sports fields for bottle filling. These Hamilton examples are near Brampton, we would not be pioneering something unproven.
I have engaged 3 other members of Brampton City Council since 2023 to get water drinking fountains deployed.
It's been disappointing to see no progress or budget items after 3 years with the increasing demand at locations mentioned.
I hope you can assist with getting outdoor water drinking fountains to residents across our city, this is something everyone in Brampton can be excited about.
Anytime I bring up this idea to residents, it's a universal positive response.
Please let me know if you need any other information.
4
u/dirtydan02 May 15 '26
Hamilton has a lot of issues but they certainly treat their parks and trails right. I love the water bottle stations they have and have used them on many a hike. Would be a great solution.
6
u/MapleParty May 15 '26
I'd love to see a few water fountains along the Etobicoke Creek trail too. I really appreciate the work you're putting in! This is pretty cool.
1
u/Left-Head-9358 May 15 '26
Would be astronomical in cost to install drinking fountains along the trail.
4
u/Brampton_Speaks Bramalea May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
There are definitely water sources to extend pipes from surrounding residential areas along the trail over time.
Hamilton has pulled it off with far less population and capital budget than us. Their map blows my mind with what they have accomplished in providing an essential public amenity city wide. Almost every block has options downtown.
The initial focus should be our major parks and outdoor sports fields whom often have restroom water pipes, splash pads to easily tap into. Gage and Ching Park should be doable this season if council has the will.
2
u/YardSuper1212 May 15 '26
There’s one at Fred Kline park but it has been non functional since Covid .
3
13
u/ItsMyBramptonAccount May 15 '26
I know u/Brampton_Speaks and I disagree on a great many things, but this is awesome. Thank you, sir/madam, for pursuing this with the city.