Runner calls out city of Denver for lack of working water fountains in city parks on TikTok

by: Vicente Arenas

Posted: Jul 17, 2023 / 06:23 PM MDT

Updated: Jul 18, 2023 / 05:26 AM MDT

DENVER (KDVR) — There is a growing social media campaign that was started by a runner who ran from park to park in Denver and couldn’t find any working drinking water fountains.

Jordan Cole, whose handle on TikTok is “Jordan in Denver,” posted a story about his dry run and has had a large response from followers.

“Ok I’m in my third Denver city park today let’s see if it has any water,” Cole said on the social media app as he ran through one of the parks.

“It’s ridiculous and the middle of summer and look no water,” Cole said as he continued his narration on the TikTok post.

FOX31’s Vicente Arenas met with Cole in person, and he said he went through five parks — Crestmoor, Robinson, Cranmer, Lindsley and City Park on a recent weekend.

None had drinking fountains that worked, Cole said.

“I feel like it’s a safety issue as it gets warmer. You see kids everywhere. I was at City Park for this last run and witnessed kids drinking out of the irrigation sprinklers by the playground. Sprinklers were working by the playground but there’s no working water fountain,” Cole said.

Those sprinklers and fountains were working on Monday.

Cole said he first started noticing fewer drinking fountains working in May but believes they’ve been out of service much longer.

Several people were at Denver city parks on a day when the high temperature was expected to hit 100 degrees.

“People are probably going to be dehydrated because of the lack of water there is,” Morgan Barnes said.

“It is a big deal especially when the city is sending out heat advisories saying ‘hey here’s some cooling shelters you can go to,’ but we can’t use city resources (city park water fountains) to drink water,” Cole said.

Cole’s TikTok video continued gaining steam on one of Denver’s hottest days of the year.

“I’m just really concerned about the safety aspect of those of us privileged that get to access and those of us relying on these facilities to survive right now, especially in the heat of summer,” Cole said.

FOX31 reached out to Denver’s City Parks and Recreation Department for a response.

Due to current staffing challenges, we have not been able to service and open all park water fountains. We recently received approval to hire a plumber and are in that process now however, there is not a clear timeline for opening drinking fountains across the city.

FOX31 will follow up to determine when those water fountains will be working once again.

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Runner calls out city of Denver for lack of working water fountains in city parks on TikTok