Water Consumption in the workplace can have very significant benefits to a business.

Check out our water dispenser offers to see how you could save money on your office water costs.

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A question we often get asked is…

“Can a Bottled Water Dispenser get Contaminated?”

The answer is Yes.  As there is a lot of human contact when changing a water bottle, and it isn’t really practical to change the bottle without touching the neck, there is the risk of pathogens and other germs getting transferred on to the bottle and into the water supply.

This video explains why this isn’t an issue with a Mains Fed Water Dispenser.

Call Us NOW on 0800 169 4008 or click the following link to get our FREE Buyer’s Guide to help you make the correct choice when buying a Water Cooler or Water Dispenser.  Packed full of tips and advice to save you money!

One of our prospective clients the other day said…

“Give me 5 good reasons why I should have a Mains Fed Water Dispenser, rather than bottle fed”

Here’s my initial reply:

1. Easy to manage. Once installed you can forget about them. They need no user maintenance apart from an occasional wipe down. So there’s no hidden costs of overhead in operating them.
2. No wasted space. There are no full or empty bottles taking up unnecessary space or making the place look untidy.
3. Reduced risk of injury. The Health and Safety risk from carrying heavy bottles or exchanging them is eliminated.
4. Simple to administer. If you rent a Water Dispenser you have no hidden or unexpected workload in terms of reordering supplies or carrying out repairs or maintenance.
5. Hygienic and safe. Since there are no manual processes, such as exchanging bottles, where hands come into contact with parts of the equipment that transport water, there is less risk of contamination.

In this video, we explain some of the considerations you need to make when choosing a Water Dispenser.

Whether it’s mains fed or a bottled water cooler, find out what you must know to make the correct choice…

The main issue I have with a Bottled Water Dispenser is the way water is delivered.

Bottled Water Dispensers need:

• Water supplied from large plastic bottles, holding around 19 litres of water, installed on the top of the dispenser

• Some storage space nearby to hold a stock of bottles to prevent water running out

• Someone to change the water bottle when it becomes empty (when full they are heavy and awkward to move)

• Someone to make sure replacement bottles are ordered when stock runs low

• Connection to mains electricity if water is to be chilled

• Sanitising to ensure contamination through handling is kept at acceptable levels

In summary, Bottled Water Coolers are convenient as they can be sited almost anywhere. The only restriction on location being access to mains power if the water is to be chilled. However, they need frequent attention by someone in the office or workplace to make sure the supply of water never runs out. Also the bottles (empty or full) take up valuable office space. The total footprint of the bottled water dispenser plus a sensible supply of bottles needs to be taken into account in any cost of ownership calculation.

The bottles, when full, weigh around 20kg, or 44lbs, so there is a Health and Safety risk whenever they need to be exchanged or moved around the office. The Health and Safety Executive General Risk Assessment Guidelines suggest that this weight should not be lifted above waist height by men; and not at all by women.

Note: Bottles also create a significant amount of waste.  Check out our FAQ video HERE to get Michael’s views and stat’s on how these plastic bottles affect our environment.

Or visit http://www.banthebottle.org for

A Water Dispenser is designed to provide a continuous supply of drinkable water in the workplace. Some provide water at room temperature. Others can chill the water to make it more refreshing and are called Water Coolers and some can heat the water to almost boiling point suitable for making hot drinks.

The water comes either from a large reservoir or bottle, or from the mains water supply. Earlier Water Dispensers used large plastic reservoirs but more are now plumbed directly into the mains supply. For reasons we describe elsewhere we only supply Water Dispensers that connect directly to the main water supply.

A Water Cooler will  include some filtration to make the water pleasant to drink and dispense the water from a tap into a cup or glass or in some cases a jug. Paper or plastic cups can also be used although these add to the problems of waste and recycling.

There are a number of very good reasons for providing a water cooler or other kind of water dispenser in the workplace. First, the human body is made up of around 70% water. A drop of just 2% in body water affects concentration, the ability to learn and, not surprisingly, mood. So keeping water levels up is essential.

Next, here in the UK, it is a legal requirement to supply fresh drinking water to your employees and it is a simple courtesy to offer it to visitors to your place of work, especially since water is fundamental to sustaining life. Without it, you’d die!

Of course you can provide water from the cold water tap in the toilets or kitchen (umm, nice!), but water treatment tends to give most tap water an unpleasant flavour or smell or even make it downright undrinkable.  Just because it’s safe doesn’t mean its nice.

There are some good business reasons why you need a Water Dispenser. Employees who experience minor levels of dehydration can suffer loss of concentration. Studies in some of the world’s largest employers such as General Motors, Procter and Gamble and Johnson and Johnson have shown that easy access to fresh drinking water in the workplace makes a measurable difference to employee morale as well as performance, some showing a 3 to 1 return on investment in equipment costs.  So, a ready supply of water keeps employees hydrated, happy and productive!

You could provide bottled mineral water but it’s expensive and needs to be stored somewhere.

I have a personal view (not it is only my personal view) about the quality of mineral water, knowing what I know about it’s source and how the industry certifies it.  Check out Video 11 in our FAQ videos section to find out why I (personally) would never drink mineral water.

So the ideal solution is to provide some type of Water dispenser in the workplace.  A convenient chilled water cooler is the ideal way to address all the above.

Daily Telegraph Monday 17 December 2007
London tap water has been rated superior to expensive mineral waters in a blind tasting conducted by some of the most sophisticated drinkers in the country.
At less than 1p per litre, it beat 20 bottled waters, including some which sell for £50 a litre, in the survey conducted by Decanter, the wine drinkers magazine.
The panel, made up of Masters of Wine, top sommeliers and some of the most experienced palates in the country, voted tap water supplied by Thames Water third equal in a tasting of 24 products.
The top scoring water was Waiwera , from New Zealand, which sells for £9 per litre at Claridge’s. This was followed by Vittell, which costs 39p a litre at Tesco.
The result comes a month after the National Consumer Council launched a campaign to force restaurants to offer free tap water.
Bottled water,considered a luxury until the 1980’s, has become a key part of most restaurants’ menus.
Claridge’s, the hotel in Mayfair, launched an entire water menu earlier this year, featuring 30 brands from around the world. The star product on the menu is a 42cl bottle of Volcanic, found more than 200 yards under volcanic rock in New Zealand’s Rotomo HIlls, which sells for £21 – the equivalent of £50 a litre.
However, it came a lowly 18th place in Decanter’s tasting. Bling H2O, from California, the second most expensive at £40 a litre, came 22nd. Its bottle is encrusted with Swarovski crystals.
Hardly any of the esteemed tasters realised that the London water, drawn from a kitchen tap in South Kensington, was the cheapest.
Terry Threlfall, the sommelier at Michelin-starred Chez Bruce in London, picked it as his favourite, giving it 19 points out of 20.
Guy Woodward, the editor of Decanter, said the tasting was instructive in showing up the “outrageous” prices charged for mineral waters.
He said: “It’s bad enough that restaurants get away with charging largely ignorant consumers scandalous mark-ups on wine, but charging £5, £10 and £20 for a resource which is freely available is an outrage-particularly when even the most well-trained palates couldn’t tell these supposedly superior products apart from plain tap water when tasting a range of waters blind.”