Places to cool down and hydrate are limited in Brussels, but the Capital Region is looking to improve the situation and will install 19 new drinking water fountains by the end of this year.
The Brussels-Capital Region currently has 103 drinking fountains in public spaces – roughly one for every 12,150 inhabitants. By the end of 2023, 19 more will be added, bringing that number to one per 10,000 inhabitants. In practice, it concerns 15 fountains along regional roads and four near vegetable gardens managed by Brussels Environment.
The first six should be installed "soon", said Brussels Environment Minister Alain Maron, who cleared a €750,000 budget for the project.
"In the context of this financing, a collaboration was set up at the end of 2021 between Brussels Environment, Brussels Mobility and Vivaqua. Thanks to this initiative, Vivaqua will install 43 new regional fountains before the end of 2025," said Maron.
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The exact locations of the new fountains have been determined, but the authorities do not yet want to communicate them. Maron also wants to introduce a smartphone app where residents of Brussels can search for fountains via an interactive map, but it is not yet ready for use.
Last year, seven new drinking fountains were also installed in various Brussels parks, including in Parc Duden and the Jardin colonial in Laeken. They became operational after the winter period.
