Water Coolers Direct asked:

While the initial cost of purchasing a water cooler can seem prohibitive when compared to a typical 3 year rental contract it becomes clear why outright purchase is so attractive to many businesses. In addition purchasing a water cooler outright gives the consumer freedom when it comes to maintaining and running their water cooler. The consumer can opt to maintain and sanitise the machine themselves or can select and switch between third party suppliers at will, in order to achieve the correct balance of cost over service levels, something that is impossible if the consumer is tied into an extended rental contract or lease.

Options for Plumbed in Water Cooler Customers

Customers who opt for a plumbed in water cooler have only to sanitise the machine and replace the filter every 6 months; they can accomplish this in 3 ways:

Self Maintenance

It’s perfectly possible for individuals to maintain the machine themselves by purchasing a sanitisation kit and filter when required. The filters cost from only £29.99 and sanitisation kits with enough liquid to last for a year start from only £44.99.

Use a Third Party Company

Third party companies are available to maintain and service water coolers, rates vary by area, ask your supplier for details.

Opt for a Service Contract

Some companies also offer consumers the option for a service contract at the time of purchase; this often includes access to a qualified engineer. Prices start from £199 for the year and are generally handled via a third party company.

Options for Bottled Water Cooler Customers

Rather than worrying about a filter change Bottled Water Cooler customers have to consider the supply of regular bottle deliveries. Bottled machines still require regular sanitisation but it’s generally considered more appropriate for the supplier of bottles to sanitise the machines in conjunction with the deliveries. The principal advantage of purchasing a bottled water cooler over renting the cooler is that this option leaves the consumer open to switch between suppliers at will. Bottled Water Cooler customers have the following options:

Self Maintenance & Third Party Bottle Delivery

While it’s by no means usual it’s perfectly feasible for individuals to sanitise their own bottled water cooler, sanitisation kits for bottled coolers start from only £34.99 and are easy to use. Bottled deliveries may then be handled by a third party company of the customer’s choice.

Third Party Bottle Delivery & Sanitisation

Third party companies are available to deliver bottles and sanitise water coolers throughout the UK the standard 18.9 Liter Bottles start from £5.50 each.

Water Coolers Direct asked:

Water Coolers Direct were searching for more clarity on how it’s regular donations were being used to help the needy. FRANK were being inundated with daily requests for the provision of water cooler services. Then Katie Harrison of FRANK water discovered Water Coolers Direct, a local company, offering an unbeatable service to national customers and the partnership was obvious.

Fred Cairns Palmer, Managing Director, WaterCoolersDirect.com Ltd said “Charitable donations have always been an important part of what we do at Water Coolers Direct, unfortunately many charities are unable to provide real detail of how a donation actually helps the people concerned. It’s our company mantra to speak plainly about our product benefits, so FRANK Water seemed to be a natural fit to our business, their no nonsense message and ability to be completely open about how our donations are used is such a refreshing change. We look forward to helping FRANK to help fund clean water projects around the world for many years to come.”

Water Coolers Direct are an internet based company who buck the established trends of the water cooler industry, by freeing the consumer of cumbersome rental contracts and offering customers the opportunity to buy water coolers outright.

Water Coolers Direct now donate £5 from the sale of every water cooler ( priced over £100 ) to the FRANK Water Projects. This donation will help fund over 5,000 litres of safe, clean drinking water for villagers at the FRANK projects. That’s enough clean drinking water for 10 children for 1 year.

Katie Harrison, Founder of FRANK Water Projects said “With this fantastic partnership we hope to give our customer’s an ethical alternative to the current water cooler rental contracts. With the help of WaterCoolersDirect.com Ltd we hope to save many more lives by installing an increased number of clean water projects in both India and Africa.”

Water Coolers Direct asked:

 

How do we taste water?

As we all know taste is one of the five senses, it refers to the ability to detect the flavour of substances. Taste receptors are found on the surface of the tongue and are essentially a network of complex chemical sensors designed to detect specific types of compounds within our food and drink. In humans the sense of smell impacts on the sense of taste and factors in on the brain’s perception of flavour.

MYTH 1: This bottled water tastes so pure

It’s a myth that humans can taste pure H20; pure water cannot react to the sensors found on the tongue as pure H20 contains no compounds, people would still be able to feel the pressure and detect the temperature but no taste will be present. It is only when water contains contaminants that tastes and smells (which can then impact on the perceived taste) may be detected. By its very nature then any type of water that tastes of anything is not pure. The content of water itself can be complex and vary from area to area, depending on the compounds picked up from the rocks and soils that it passes through before it reaches the customer.

MYTH 2: Chilled water tastes better

The fact is that chilled water has even less taste than water that is luke warm, which is an interesting point as many prefer their water chilled. It raises the question of why people think that chilled bottled water tastes as good, because chilling the water impedes the tongues sensors and prevents an individual tasting the very impurities that give bottled water its taste.

MYTH 3: Tap water tastes terrible and can’t be good for me

In the UK chlorine is added to the tap water to ensure that the supply is food grade quality 24/7. The presence of chlorine along with other impurities can have an adverse effect on the taste and smell of mains supplied water.

FACT 1: The taste of Mains water can be improved

There are a wide range of water filters on the market today, under sink filters for the home or office kitchen and filters that are housed in the desktop or freestanding water cooler style machines. Activated Carbon based filters are normally sufficient to remove the bad tastes and odours from the UK mains water supply and usually last for up to 6 months at a time.

Considered to be one of the oldest means of water purification Activated Carbon has been used to filter water for hundreds of years. Carbon filtering works by removing contaminants and impurities, utilizing chemical absorption. By its very nature carbon provides a large section of surface area that attracts and holds a wide range of contaminants. Activated Carbon has a positive charge designed to attract even more (negatively charged) contaminants in your water supply. It should be noted that although carbon is effective at removing elements that cause bad taste such as chlorine and sediment it does not generally remove minerals, salts, and dissolved inorganic compounds from the water.

Another method of improving the taste of your mains water is to chill the water down to a point where the taste and smell become reduced, perhaps by storing dispensed water in your fridge for a few hours.

FACT 2 Mains water is cheaper than bottled water

It doesn’t take a mathematician to work out that bottled water is expensive, a typical 19 Litre Water Cooler Bottle costs £5.50 where as 19 Litres of metered water costs only £ 0.023.

FACT 3 Mains water is better for the environment

If you opt for a Plumbed in Water Cooler you will be helping to reduce the cost of bottle production and delivery. While bottled water accounts for only a small percentage of an individual’s carbon emissions it’s important for businesses and individuals to do all that they can to reduce their carbon footprint. Bottled Coolers have an obvious additional effect on the environment in terms of the initial production, the delivery and the disposal of the bottles.

Water Coolers Direct asked:

It is important to note that the following sanitisation process should be carried our every 3 months or sooner if there has been any known contamination of your water cooler or water machine. If your machine or cooler is left unused or left empty for a length of time then you should also sanitise the machine immediately before letting people dispense water from the machine.

If your water cooler is connected to the mains water supply then you must replace your filter every 6 months. If your filter is older than 6 months then it must be REMOVED from the machine to avoid Health and Safety concerns.

Why does Water Coolers Direct.com Ltd use Aqua Dosa products?

Aqua Dosa™ are winners of a Green Apple award for environmentally friendly products this is because the Aqua Dosa™ solution breaks down to oxygen and water and leaves no toxic products. In addition to this the product has no taste or odour and kills bacteria including Legionella, viruses, algae, fungi and fungal spores and is completely environmentally friendly.

For Point Of Use / Plumbed in Coolers:

? Shut off the water using your Shut Off Valve on the inlet pipe

? Replace your coolers filter with the Mini Dosa using the push fit connectors. It is important the filter is REMOVED, as any carbon filter would make the sanitising solution ineffective.

? Unscrew the see through container at the base of your Mini Dosa

? Put 20ml of Sanitiser fluid into the container and refit to the Mini Dosa

? Empty your coolers tank through the taps

? Turn the water back on using the Shut Off Valve

? Leave the machine for 10 minutes

? While you are waiting clean your cooler with your Aqua Dosa™ Wipes

? Shut off water

? Empty your coolers tank through the taps

? If you have a hot machine turn off the red hot switch and then drain the water through your hot tank drain (normally located at the base or back of your machine)

? Replace the filter; if your filter is 6 months old then it needs to be replaced, otherwise the filter must be REMOVED from the machine to avoid Health and Safety concerns.

? Turn on the water using your Shut Off Valve

? If you have a hot machine leave for 5 minutes to ensure that the hot tank is full and turn on the red hot switch

? Flush half a bucket of water through your taps to remove any remaining Sanitiser Fluid

? Taste water to ensure quality

? Your cooler is now ready to use

For Bottled Fed Coolers:

? Remove the empty bottle from your machine

? Remove the Spike Housing and the separator you will then see the tank

? Using your Sanitiser Bottle pour 20ml of Sanitiser Fluid into the tank

? Leave the machine for 10 minutes

? While you are waiting clean your cooler with your Aqua Dosa™ Wipes paying attention to the Spike Housing and the separator

? Empty your coolers tank through the taps

? If you have a hot machine turn off the red hot switch and then drain the water through your hot tank drain (normally located at the base or back of your machine)

? Replace the Spike Housing and the separator and place a full bottle on the machine

? If you have a hot machine leave for 5 minutes to ensure that the hot tank is full and turn on the red hot switch

? Leave the machine for 5 minutes to enable the coolers tank to fill up

? Flush half a bucket of water through your taps to remove any remaining Sanitiser Fluid

? Taste water to ensure quality

? Your cooler is now ready to use

Direct Chill:

For Direct Chill Systems the procedures outlined above remain somewhat valid but we would advise you to contact your supplier for more detail.

Copyright © WaterCoolers Direct.com Ltd 2007

Water Coolers Direct asked:

As we all know from school the earth’s water is constantly in movement, the water cycle or hydrologic cycle, describes the movement of water above, below, and under the earths surface. As the name ‘water cycle’ implies there is no beginning or end to this process and while water may change state from liquid, to vapour, to ice depending on the part of the water cycle that you are looking at, the amount of water on Earth remains constant over time. Unfortunately there are now more and more people on the planet to share this limited resource with, and the only way to deal with the growing shortage is to conserve as much water as possible by using what we have in the most responsible way.

Even when water seems abundant it’s important that we all do our bit to conserve as much as possible, aside from the obvious benefits of conserving water in an effort to reduce costs to you or your business, the widely publicised environmental concerns should also give us all a real incentive to conserve water. Many of the worlds people face serious water shortages, the BBC claim that “People in rich countries use 10 times more water than those in poor ones.” and that “water-borne diseases already kill one child every eight seconds” [1]

Conserving Tap Water

The average running tap uses approximately 10 litres of water every minute, and dripping taps can use up to 90 litres of water per week.

Top tips to conserve tap water:

» Mend any dripping taps with appropriate washers and ball-valves

» Don’t waste clean water on plants, put a bowl in your sink and use water from your washing up or cooled cooking water instead

» Don’t run tap water until it’s cold, use your fridge to chill water or purchase a specialist undersink chiller or water cooler

» Put a bowl in your sink or use the plug to avoid cleaning clothes etc under a running tap

» Don’t overfill your kettle; boiling unnecessary amounts of water is wasteful and will increase your bills

Conserving Water in the Bathroom

Flushing a toilet uses up to 10 litres of water every time and accounts for a third of the water used in the home. According to Cambridge Water “A standard shower uses 35 litres every 5 minutes… …An average depth bath uses 80 litres… and “A ‘Power Shower’ uses 80 litres” [2]

Top tips to conserve water in the Bathroom:

» Have a shower rather than a bath but don’t spend too long under the shower

» Don’t run water continuously when cleaning your teeth perhaps make use of a glass or mug

» Fit a Hippo in your cistern. A Hippo is a small plastic bag which retains water in the bag every time that you flush. For more information contact you local water authority (many offer these devices for free)

» Use a waste basket instead of your toilet to dispose of those small bits of rubbish that are often created in the bathroom

Conserving Water when using your Washing Machine

Washing machines use a massive amount of water, on each cycle this can amount to as much as 70 to 120 Litres of water at a time. A full load uses less water than 2 half loads.

Top tips to conserve water when using your Washing Machine:

» Make sure that you machine has a full load before turning it on, if you have to use your machine half full use the half load button

» When buying a new machine make sure it is efficient as possible

Conserving Water when using your Dishwasher

A Dishwasher uses up to 60 litres of water each time that it is used.

Top tips to conserve water when using your Dishwasher:

» Make sure that your machine is fully loaded prior to use

» Avoid pre-rinsing dishes and cutlery under a flowing tap, this is almost always unnecessary

Conserving Water with proper Maintenance

Maintaining your home or business premises can save you money and help conserve water.

Top tips to conserve water by maintaining your Home or Business Premises:

» Maintain your plumbing systems and fix all leaks as soon as possible

» Insulate venerable pipes to avoid them freezing and bursting in the cold weather

» Make sure you know where your stop tap is so that you can isolate any leaks as soon as possible

Conserving Water in the Garden

As a nation of garden lovers it’s important that we are all careful when tending our gardens in order to conserve as much of the mains water supply as possible.

Top tips to conserve water in the Garden:

» Install a water butt or similar to make use of all of that rain water that lands on your roof. Rainwater is a great natural resource which should be used where possible to fulfill some of the more basic requirements in the garden. Installing a water butt is the best way to harness this natural asset, and it’s a fact that rainwater is better for garden plants than tap water.

» Use waste kitchen water wherever possible to water your plants

» Water your garden during the evening or late afternoon when it’s cooler to help reduce evaporation

» Don’t use a garden sprinkler these devises are wasteful and unnecessary

» Reduce the size of your lawn and buy plants that require less moisture

» Water your lawn once a week only; this will help to preserve your water, it’s also better for your lawn as over watering can encourage roots to seek the surface

» Mulch your garden with tree bark, coconut compost etc to prevent evaporation

Conserving Water by limiting Hosepipe use

There’s a reason why UK homes have faced hosepipe bans in the past, hosepipes are an incredibly wasteful way of consuming water.

Top tips to limit Hosepipe use:

» Clean paths and driveways with a brush not a hose

» Clean your vehicles with a bucket and sponge rather than using a hose, or limit the hose to the removal of foam after the vehicle has been cleaned

» When only a hose will do you can avoid wasting water by fitting a shutoff valve on your hosepipe

» Fit a Water Butt (see above) as an alternative to watering your garden with a hosepipe

Conserving Water at Work

As well as ensuring that you follow some of the above measures most notably those that relate to maintenance, taps, hosepipes and toilet facilities businesses can also conduct audits and observe a few additional practices that will help them to conserve water.

Top tips to conserve water at Work:

» One of the best ways for a business to reduce the amount of waste that it produces is to conduct a waste audit; this audit will cover other factors as well as water wastage. For more information on how to conduct a waste audit visit the Business Link website or do a search on “waste audit” in Google

» The production of paper uses an incredible amount of water try to reduce your paper use by as much as possible

» Eliminate automatic flushing devices in toilet areas and replace with water efficient devices

» Consult a plumber for advice regarding the potential for pressure reducers and flow restrictors to reduce the use of water

» When replacing old equipment ensure that the new models use water efficiently

» Investigate ways in which your business can reuse cooling water for other purposes

» Only clean windows as required not on a periodic basis

» Involve your staff by offering awards and incentives and put a reporting procedure in place

Resources:

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2943946.stm

2. http://www.cambridge-water.co.uk/about_you/save_home.asp