A new business model for the company Evive Station has led to its removal from Mercyhurst University.

When the station was installed over the summer, the agreement was that Evive would own and maintain the station costing the university only minimal installation costs. The profit for the company only came from the displayed advertisements.

However, under the new business model anyone wanting to use the station would be required to pay a monthly fee of $4 or yearly membership fee of $40.

Brittany Prischak, the sustainability officer for Mercyhurst University, said, “Students already have so many fees as it is. We just didn’t think it made sense especially for how small of a university we are.”

For some businesses and larger universities it may still be beneficial but Mercyhurst did not wish to continue in the Evive program.

With only one station on the second floor of Old Main, the Evive Station was not the only place to fill up a reusable water bottle. “Maybe the water fountains aren’t the best on campus but we could go there eventually,” Prischak said.

The lack of filtration in the water fountains is concerning for some, however in Egan Dining Hall as well as the Laker there are opportunities to refill a reusable water bottle until an alternative to the Evive Station is presented.

“We are going to try alternatives,” said Prischak. “There are refill hydration systems that fit on top of an existing water fountain.”

With the summer to research alternatives and submit a proposal to the Student Sustainability Fund, the soonest a new filtration system would be put in place would be this upcoming winter or spring. For all those who did purchase an Evive reusable water bottle, at least it is still a durable water bottle that can still be used.