Plastic water bottles are taking a hit at Biscayne National Park and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, where water filling stations have been installed with a goal of reducing plastic waste.

At Biscayne in South Florida, two water bottle filling stations are being installed at the Dante Fascell Visitor Center to provide clean, filtered water in a convenient and environmentally friendly way, to park visitors. One filling station opened last week on the lower floor of the visitor center.

The Elkay bottle filler stations are touch free. Merely place a water bottle in the designated area of the station and it is automatically filled. Once the bottle is filled and removed, the water flow stops automatically. Digitized information is displayed at each station of how many plastic water bottles are saved from landfills.

"The filling stations provide convenient hydration, reduce dependency on plastic water bottles, provide a rapid fill of water, and help minimize disposable plastic bottle waste in the environment," park officials say.

Meanwhile, at Golden Gate in California, a ceremony was held last week to mark the installation of a Lifefactory GLOBALTAP filling station and water fountain at the Golden Gate Bridge Pavilion in San Francisco. The station is intended to help limit the use of disposable plastic water bottles.

The water fountain/bottle filling station unit is located on the southeast side of the bridge at the Golden Gate Bridge Pavilion adjacent to the Visitor Center and Gift Shop. Thousands of pedestrians, cyclists and travelers visit the Golden Gate Bridge Pavilion every day.

“The San Francisco Bay Area has always led the nation in environmental action and what better place to address the problem of disposable plastic water bottles than at the entryway to the Golden Gate Bridge,” said Daren Joy, Lifefactory’s co-founder. “This truly was a collaborative effort and we’re honored to donate this filling station."

Lifefactory’s donation of the filing station came a week before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is set to vote on a proposal to phase-out the sale of plastic water bottles on city property. If approved, San Francisco would be the first major city to enact such a law.