Two tons of water, 2,190 bottles of the stuff, sat unused in a storage room by the Grand Palm Room in the University Center. Bought by last year’s Boca Student Government to hand out at concerts and Breezeway Days, it finally arrived – two weeks into the current government’s term. Not knowing what to do with the four foot high stack of plastic bottles, BSG stashed it out of the way and it sat there, unused.

That is, until a water main ruptured on Wednesday, May 26, in the City of Boca Raton. Afraid that bacteria may have crept into the water, they issued a city-wide boil-water order on May 27, and FAU’s police department responded by taping flyers to student housing doors warning students to boil the water for three minutes before drinking. The City of Boca then extended the alert into Saturday evening.

Student Body President Alvira Khan was concerned that those living in Indian River Towers and the University Village Apartments would come home and ignore the flyers posted on their doors. After all, they resembled ads for new clubs or events happening around campus. Nothing to get excited about.

Khan also knew there were over 250 students living on campus over the summer, many without cars, who would have to go without drinking water for the next 2 days. She then remembered the BSG-labeled water, collecting dust, and decided to use it.

“We started going door-to-door, telling people that ‘Hey, we have a water problem,'” says Khan. Some individuals didn’t even know there was anything going on, and she had to tell them. Khan loaded up a golf cart with water, called on six members of her staff and went to work.

Bob Beeman, one staff member says, “There was enough water to basically let students take what they wanted. We started out with a hand truck that was full, and it took a lot of force to get that thing rolling.” But by the end of the evening, the hand truck was empty.

The reaction from students was first confusion, that the student body president would knock on their doors, but once they knew they were being given free water, everyone was thankful, says Beeman.

Surprisingly, Khan says, there were even a few students who said, “No we don’t need water,” even when they knew it wouldn’t cost them anything.

The best part for Khan, she says, was meeting the people who voted for her, face to face. She was able to tell them, “Hey, Student Government is there for you. Visit us even if you don’t need scantrons,” she says.

Both Khan and Mike Hallenstein, another staff member, say that after this happened, it started them thinking that maybe they should have some reserve water for future situations.

Who knew BSG would act like an emergency task force? Not the resident advisor of the student apartments, Ryan O’Hart, known by students as Beatnik. “This is the first time I’ve actually seen Student Government do anything for anybody,” he says.

Overall, they handed out 21 cases of water, or 400 bottles. Not bad for a purchase that was never going to be used.