“It will be a joy when they start working again” Bucharest’s public water fountains and the strategies used by the homeless to access drinking water
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Dec 30, 2025
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Abstract
This paper approaches the issue of public water from a qualitative perspective, using semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of homeless individuals using drinking fountains, the strategies used in order to obtain potable water, as well as access to toilets and personal hygiene. The theoretical and methodological framework of the paper draws on the legacy of Gusti’s Sociological School, focusing on fieldwork and direct observation. Interviews show that homeless people regularly use the drinking fountains, but they are taken out of service during the cold season. In order to access drinking water, homeless people resort to an informal network of social organizations, pharmacies, restaurants and interpersonal relationships with employees of private businesses, consume liquids from unfinished drinks or, when they can afford it, buy bottled water. In implementing these strategies, homeless people must navigate the stigma and prejudice of others, which can make it more difficult for them to access water, toilets and hygiene.
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How to Cite
Coșmeleață, V.-A. (2025). “It will be a joy when they start working again” Bucharest’s public water fountains and the strategies used by the homeless to access drinking water. Sociologie Românească, 23(2), 75-96. https://doi.org/10.33788/sr.23.2.5
References
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Chelcea, L. (2024). Hydraulic Hospitality and the Waters of New York City Restaurants, Current Anthropology, 65(S26), S106-S129. Available at https://doi.org/10.1086/732112.
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Karunananthan, M. (2019). Can the human right to water disrupt neoliberal water policies in the era of corporate policy-making? Geoforum, 98, 244-253. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.07.013.
Kassens-Noor, E., & Ladd, J. (2019). No right to share the city: being homeless in Rio de Janeiro during the FIFA World Cup, Human Geography, 12(2), 51-63. Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/194277861901200204.
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Maroko, A. R., Hopper, K., Gruer, C., Jaffe, M., Zhen, E., & Sommer, M. (2021). Public restrooms, periods, and people experiencing homelessness: An assessment of public restrooms in high needs areas of Manhattan, New York, PloS one, 16(6), e0252946. Available at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252946.
Meehan, K., Beresford, M., Amador Cid, F., Avelar Portillo, L. J., Marin, A., Odetola, M., & Pacheco-Vega, R. (2023). Homelessness and water insecurity in the Global North: Trapped in the dwelling paradox, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, e1651. Available at https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1651.
Neves-Silva, P., Martins, G. I., & Heller, L. (2018). We only have access as a favor, don't we?’ The perception of homeless population on the human rights to water and sanitation, Cadernos de saude publica, 34. Available at https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00024017.
Neves-Silva, P., Martins, G. I., & Heller, L. (2019). Human rights' interdependence and indivisibility: A glance over the human rights to water and sanitation, BMC International Health and Human Rights, 19(1), 1-8. Available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-019-0197-3.
Popescu, Ș. (1939) Măturătorii Capitalei, Sociologia Românească, IV(1-3), 85-89.
Speer, J. (2016) The right to infrastructure: a struggle for sanitation in Fresno, California homeless encampments. Urban Geography, 37(7), pp. 1049-1069. Available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02723638.2016.1142150%4010.1080/tfocoll.2024.0.issue-Urban_geographies_of_waste.
Stahl, H.H. (1939) Monografia unui sat: cum se alcătuiește, spre folosul căminului cultural. Ediția a II-a. București: Fundația Culturală Regală Principele Carol.
Ștefănucă, P. (1939) Muncitorii agricoli basarabeni în Dobrogea, Sociologia Românească, IV(4-6), 178-186.
Sultana, F. (2018). Water justice: why it matters and how to achieve it, Water International, 43(4), 483-493. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2018.1458272.
Swyngedouw, E. (2005). Dispossessing H2O: the contested terrain of water privatization. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 16(1), pp. 81-98. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/1045575052000335384.
Tiriung, M. (1939). Un basarabean în căutare de lucru, Sociologia Românească, IV(1-3), 81-82.
Tiriung, M. (1942). Basarabeni muncitori la periferia Bucureştilor, Sociologia Românească, IV(7-12), 496-497.
UN (2010). Human right to water and sanitation, UN Document A/RES/64/292, 28 July. New York: United Nations. Available at https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/687002?ln=en&v=pdf.
Valle, F. A. A. L., Farah, B. F., & Carneiro Junior, N. (2020). Health-interfering streets experiences: homeless people's perspective. Health in Debate, 44, 182-192. Available at https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-1104202012413.
Bucur, B. (2016). Population health in interwar Romania reflected in the sociological school of Bucharest’s research and publications, in V. Marinescu, & B. Mitu (eds.), Health and the media: Essays on the effects of mass communication. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 215-240.
Bucur, B. (2019). Sociologia proastei guvernări în România interbelică. București: RAO Distribuţie.
Capone, D., Cumming, O., Nichols, D., & Brown, J. (2020). Water and sanitation in Urban America, 2017-2019, American journal of public health, 110(10), 1567-1572. Available at https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00024017.
Chelcea, L. (2023). Catch-all technopolitics: Water filters in New York City, American Ethnologist. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.13143.
Chelcea, L. (2024). Hydraulic Hospitality and the Waters of New York City Restaurants, Current Anthropology, 65(S26), S106-S129. Available at https://doi.org/10.1086/732112.
Dunăre, M., & Dunăre, N.M. (1942). Problema apei la Oarja, Sociologia Românească, IV(7-12), 429-433.
Gleick, P. (1998). The human right to water, Water Policy, 1, 487-503. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/S1366-7017(99)00008-2.
Gusti, D. (1934). Sociologia militans, Introducere în sociologia politică, vol. 1. Bucureşti: Institutului Social Român.
Gusti, D. (1939a) Bazele științifice ale serviciului social, Sociologia Românească, IV(1-3), 1-8.
Gusti, D. (1939b) Un sistem de cercetări sociologice la teren, Sociologia Românească, IV(4-6), 153-160.
Gusti, D., & Herseni, T. (2002) [1940]. Îndrumări pentru monografiile sociologice, Bucureşti: Universității din București.
Hale, M. R. (2019). Fountains for environmental justice: public water, homelessness, and migration in the face of global environmental change, Environmental Justice, 12(2), 33-40. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2018.0031.
Karunananthan, M. (2019). Can the human right to water disrupt neoliberal water policies in the era of corporate policy-making? Geoforum, 98, 244-253. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.07.013.
Kassens-Noor, E., & Ladd, J. (2019). No right to share the city: being homeless in Rio de Janeiro during the FIFA World Cup, Human Geography, 12(2), 51-63. Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/194277861901200204.
Kidd, S. A., Greco, S., & McKenzie, K. (2021). Global climate implications for homelessness: A scoping review, Journal of Urban Health, 98, 385-393. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00483-1.
Lenghel-Izanu, P. (1939) Alimentația și îmbrăcămintea în Bârsana, Maramureș, Sociologia Românească, IV(4-6), 271-275.
Lowe, L. (2018). No place to go: how public toilets fail our private needs. Toronto: Coach House Books.
Manuilă, V. (1939). Pauperismul și criza familială într-un cartier mărginaș al Bucureștilor (Tei), Sociologia Românească, IV(4-6), 170-178.
Maroko, A. R., Hopper, K., Gruer, C., Jaffe, M., Zhen, E., & Sommer, M. (2021). Public restrooms, periods, and people experiencing homelessness: An assessment of public restrooms in high needs areas of Manhattan, New York, PloS one, 16(6), e0252946. Available at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252946.
Meehan, K., Beresford, M., Amador Cid, F., Avelar Portillo, L. J., Marin, A., Odetola, M., & Pacheco-Vega, R. (2023). Homelessness and water insecurity in the Global North: Trapped in the dwelling paradox, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, e1651. Available at https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1651.
Neves-Silva, P., Martins, G. I., & Heller, L. (2018). We only have access as a favor, don't we?’ The perception of homeless population on the human rights to water and sanitation, Cadernos de saude publica, 34. Available at https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00024017.
Neves-Silva, P., Martins, G. I., & Heller, L. (2019). Human rights' interdependence and indivisibility: A glance over the human rights to water and sanitation, BMC International Health and Human Rights, 19(1), 1-8. Available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-019-0197-3.
Popescu, Ș. (1939) Măturătorii Capitalei, Sociologia Românească, IV(1-3), 85-89.
Speer, J. (2016) The right to infrastructure: a struggle for sanitation in Fresno, California homeless encampments. Urban Geography, 37(7), pp. 1049-1069. Available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02723638.2016.1142150%4010.1080/tfocoll.2024.0.issue-Urban_geographies_of_waste.
Stahl, H.H. (1939) Monografia unui sat: cum se alcătuiește, spre folosul căminului cultural. Ediția a II-a. București: Fundația Culturală Regală Principele Carol.
Ștefănucă, P. (1939) Muncitorii agricoli basarabeni în Dobrogea, Sociologia Românească, IV(4-6), 178-186.
Sultana, F. (2018). Water justice: why it matters and how to achieve it, Water International, 43(4), 483-493. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2018.1458272.
Swyngedouw, E. (2005). Dispossessing H2O: the contested terrain of water privatization. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 16(1), pp. 81-98. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/1045575052000335384.
Tiriung, M. (1939). Un basarabean în căutare de lucru, Sociologia Românească, IV(1-3), 81-82.
Tiriung, M. (1942). Basarabeni muncitori la periferia Bucureştilor, Sociologia Românească, IV(7-12), 496-497.
UN (2010). Human right to water and sanitation, UN Document A/RES/64/292, 28 July. New York: United Nations. Available at https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/687002?ln=en&v=pdf.
Valle, F. A. A. L., Farah, B. F., & Carneiro Junior, N. (2020). Health-interfering streets experiences: homeless people's perspective. Health in Debate, 44, 182-192. Available at https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-1104202012413.