ow clean water can be found anytime at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). Upgraded water dispensers with hot and cold water came to the campus this semester.

The University has installed 10 potable water dispensers in the library, information center and in each teaching building. Later it will update the surplus old ones. The upgraded water dispensers provide both cold and hot water for the faculty, students and staff.

“Everyone is pleased with the renewal of the equipment,” said Zhou Fangying, a sophomore Italian major. “I feel like the water quality is improved, and it becomes more convenient in that we didn’t have cold water before.”

Zhou said she is looking forward to the total renewal of equipment. “It remains inconvenient if it just replaces the equipment of the first floor, since my classroom is on the fourth floor.”

Ge Yelong, a staff member in the Office of State-owned Assets Administration, said that the old water dispensers could provide hot water only and that the parts needed to be replaced frequently, because they had been used for so long.

“We attached much importance to the problems raised by students,” Ge said. “We launched procurement as soon as we reported to the school leadership and got the instructions.”

The University CFO Lin Xuelei personally called functional departments and student representatives to research opinions and had insight into the purchasing process to guide the work. The Office of Student Affairs and the University Health Services cooperated with the process.

“We selected several companies of high profile and good reputation in the market to research, conducted to formulate purchase plan after hanging on a bidding website for open tender. Subcontracting is a listed company that the industry’s well known.

According to Ge, the university purchased 48 sets of water dispensers with an investment of more than 700,000 yuan in the early stage. “The new water dispenser’s filtration system and working principle is more advanced than the older one, and more reliable,” he said.

In the future, the university will regularly test the water quality, replace filters and release timely result, Ge said.

It hired third-party quality inspection agencies authorized by the government to carry out strict, comprehensive water quality tests. Their report shows that, water quality of the 10 dispensers conforms to the provisions of the state sanitary limit, he said. The complete test report copy is kept in the office of the Students’ Union.