You may often have found yourself disgusted with the options concerning water fountains at this school. Some have garbage in them, some taste funny, some squirt you in the face, and some are simply have too hot water to be acceptable. So, to help you, the reader, I spent an hour going around the school (excluding Abrookin) and rating every water fountain I could, by testing water pressure, water temperature, water release type and more!

First, some facts. There are six towers at Albany High, increasing in number from the Washington Ave side to the Western Ave side, with the smaller-numbered towers also facing North Main. There are three water fountains at each of those towers, one for each floor, at a total of 18. The music wing has two fountains and the P.E. wing has twelve. This means that there are 32 total water fountains in the school.

Floor 1, Tower 1- Handle, slightly low water pressure, cool water, pools in the sink

Floor 1, Tower 2- Button, excellent water pressure, cold water, nice and secluded area behind the teacher’s bathroom, rarely visited

Floor 1, Tower 3- Handle, slightly high water pressure, slightly warm water

Floor 1, Tower 4- Handle, low water pressure, cold water

Floor 1, Tower 5- Handle, slightly high water pressure, cool water

Floor 1, Tower 6- Handle, very low water pressure, slightly cool water, inconsistent stream

Floor 2, Tower 1- Knob, excellent water pressure, slightly cool water, pools in the sink

Floor 2, Tower 2- Handle, excellent water pressure, average temperature, water fountain is physically low so you have to bend over

Floor 2, Tower 3- Handle, slightly low water pressure, average temperature, stream splashes a little too much

Floor 2, Tower 4- Knob, very low water pressure, very cold water

Floor 2, Tower 5- Handle, slightly low water pressure, cold water, stream skews a bit

Floor 2, Tower 6- Broken

Floor 3, Tower 1- Horizontal push bar, low water pressure, cold water

Floor 3, Tower 2- Broken

Floor 3, Tower 3- Knob, excellent water pressure, cool water

Floor 3, Tower 4- Button, extremely low water pressure, average temperature, plumbing exposed due to a missing bottom panel

Floor 3, Tower 5- Broken

Floor 3, Tower 6- Handle, slightly low water pressure, cool water

Music Wing, Floor 1, closer to stairs- Boarded up

Music Wing, Floor 1, farther from stairs- Button, slightly low water pressure, very cold water

PE Wing, Floor 2, farthest from the pool- Button, excellent water pressure, cool water

PE Wing, Floor 2, just before the pool- Handle, extremely low water pressure, slightly warm water

PE Wing, Gymnasium, closest to doors- Button, excellent water pressure, slightly warm temperature, pools in the sink

PE Wing, Gymnasium, farther from doors- Button, excellent water pressure, warm water

PE Wing, Floor 2, Next to the rubber gym doors closer to the pool- This is very confusing. There are two water fountains, side by side here, the right one looking normal and the other without a nozzle or knob. When you twist the right fountain’s knob, it has low water pressure and slightly warm water, but at the same time makes the other fountain sprinkle water down its side. Neither my companion nor I could figure it out.

PE Wing, Pool, closer to entrance- Horizontal push bar, excellent water pressure, warm water

PE Wing, Pool, farther from entrance- Horizontal push bar, excellent water pressure, warm water, water fountain is physically low so you have to bend over

PE Wing, Floor 1, by doors leading to the parking lot- Button, excellent water pressure, cool water

PE Wing, Floor 1, boys’ locker room- Button, slightly low water pressure, slightly warm water

PE Wing, Floor 1, girls’ locker room, closer to door- Broken

PE Wing, Floor 1, girls’ locker room, farther from door- Button, slightly low water pressure, warm water

Don’t worry; for the girl’s locker rooms I just interviewed people. This study shows us a lot about water in this school. For example, tower one water fountains tend to form pools, PE Wing fountains are generally above average temperature, and four of the thirty-two (or 12%) of the water fountains are broken. By following this handy guide and adjusting for what fountain is near you, you can finally pick a fountain that and meets your standards for drinking!