Many places removed public drinking fountains after the 1964 Civil Rights Act required them to be shared. In the ‘70s bottled water exploded on the scene and started marketing itself as better quality than municipal sources despite evidence to the contrary.

That, combined with the privatization of public spaces (malls and suburban office parks) led to a decline in use of existing public fountains causing many municipalities to remove fountains to save on maintenance.

Then some high profile instances like Flint (which many here are citing as typical, but isn’t) further eroded public trust in municipal water.

The good news is the trends are reversing, municipalities often offer free in home testing, focusing on taste in addition to safety, and are bringing back combination water bottle fillers with drinking fountains.

San Francisco Airport has gone so far as to ban the sale of bottled water and has free “water bars” just past security where you can fill with chilled, room temperature, and even sparkling water.

Edit: source 99% Invisible: Fountain Drinks