Does your office provide drinking water through a water cooler or do you drink water from the tap at your office? Keep reading to uncover differences in the quality of water from the tap, a bottled water cooler and a bottleless water cooler!
Think Twice About Tap Water
If you’re still drinking tap water at the office, think twice before turning on the tap the next time. While tap water is potable, there are options for better tasting water.
First, you may be wondering what qualifies as potable water? Water flowing through indoor taps must pass minimum health regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to qualify as potable. Regulations test water safety by looking for contaminants such as lead and bacteria that, if present in tap water, could cause serious illness. The purpose of a public or private water treatment facility is to make water potable, safe to drink, and good tasting.
Unfortunately, water can become impure after it leaves a treatment facility. It can even pick up some additives from the facility itself. Most municipalities add chemicals such as fluoride, chlorine, or chloramines to treated water, to help protect your teeth and to keep the water free of harmful germs on its way to your tap.
Beyond that, silt, sediment, and other minerals can build up inside water mains and household plumbing. When a water main breaks or is repaired or replaced, it’s possible for silt, sediment, and microorganisms to enter the system.
Even if your tap water is safe, does it taste good? When offices install water filtration systems like a reverse osmosis filter or a water cooler, employees reap the benefits of better quality and better tasting water.
Are Bottled Coolers Better?
A water cooler is one of the best ways to deliver fresh, cool water at the office but have you ever considered the quality of the water from your office cooler? When was the last time your cooler was cleaned? Are there sanitary procedures in place for replacing the bottles? Your office may have a cooler and you never gave thought to the quality of the water dispensed.
Offices often use bottled water coolers to provide drinking water. While the water probably tastes better than your average tap water, there are health risks that come with maintaining a bottled cooler. The bottle, by design, will need to be changed often. This leaves room for bacteria to enter the “cooler” during bottle changes. This most often results from the person who handles the bottle and from airborne contaminants. Many bottled coolers are not cleaned regularly, leaving opportunity for additional contamination.
Make the Switch to Bottleless
Bottleless water coolers provide great tasting water with a much higher level of filtration with much less risk for contamination. It may seem simple but it’s an often-ignored benefit to office employees. Below are a few more reasons to make the switch to a bottleless cooler:
- Who is in charge of the water coolers in your office? They would be happier with less headaches related to bottle storage, bottle replacement and billing.
- It’s more sanitary = Healthy Employees
- It’s cleaner. Really. Have you ever stopped to think about how long a bottle has been sitting on your water dispenser? Do you know the last time the dispenser was cleaned or a filter was replaced?
- Even if your cooler and filter were changed in the last month, a bottleless cooler, like those supplied by Chesapeake Cooler Company, offer a much higher degree of filtration.
Beyond Filtration
Another important benefit to using bottleless water cooler is their environmental impact. Bottleless coolers are more eco-friendly than bottled coolers and bottled water.
When you stop using bottles, the cost of transporting, storing and disposing of bottleless (large or small) is eliminated. This adds up to a 72% carbon footprint reduction.* Additionally, the more environmentally friendly water you use, the lower your carbon footprint will be by comparison.
You’ll stop contributing to plastic bottles piling into landfill and reduce dependence on oil-derived plastics. When it comes to eco-friendly water, everyone can play a part with bottleless coolers.
A Final Review
By now you’ve learned quite a bit about tap water vs bottled water vs bottleless coolers. To sum up, here are the top four reasons to switch to bottleless coolers:
- Seals within the cooler reduce the risk of contamination from airborne contaminants and the bottleneck area that is handled during changes.
- It’s Convenient = Low Maintenance for Your Employees
- No Deliveries = No interruptions during your busy work day, No security risks of having building open to deliveries, No missed delivery dates, leaving you without water.
- It Saves Money = Less Overhead for Your Business
*Water Treatment for Dummies, WQA Special Edition
