Wexford is summer-ready in an environmentally friendly way, thanks to new water bottle refill stations created by Wexford’s Kent Stainless.
In a collaborative effort with Wexford County Council, the grade 316L stainless steel with a heavy-duty pipe wall was made in Wexford and installed by the council.
Already, it has been welcomed by locals and visitors alike, and Sean Kent of Kent Stainless said that it was great to see the new stations fit and ready to meet the demands of an outdoor summer.
‘We first made these refill stations as a customised product for Gorey Tidy Towns in 2019 after they came to us. We made a couple of different versions with certain aesthetics, and the concept originally began in Europe.
‘After we installed them in Gorey, the enquiries grew from there and they were installed on the Waterford Greenway and walking trails like Fort Mountain.
‘We were delighted to have them installed most recently in Wexford town, and it’s a great addition to outdoor living,’ he said. Mr Kent added that the team is now looking towards having the stations installed in community settings, such as sports clubs, pitches and community centres.
‘It’s clear that outdoor activities are the right market for us, and we recently installed them at the communal sports area in Barntown. ‘We had an enquiry for more at Wexford’s Bull Ring, so people can expect a few more popping up around the place’.
The idea behind the refill stations originally was to see the reduction of the use of plastic bottles, with the stations encouraging people to refill keep-cups and flasks instead.
Mr Kent said that sustainability is at the heart of their work. ‘Sustainability is something we’re constantly looking at and we’re regularly reviewed on energy usage. ‘It’s attractive to multi-national companies to see that foresight, and next year we’re aiming to get a quarter of an acre of solar panels installed here in Ardcavan for our electricity,’ he said.
