What are water coolers?
They are devices that cool and dispense water. Pretty simple, right? Well, you’d think so, but it gets a little more complicated. We can divide water coolers into two basic categories: There are the bottle-less, wall-mounted type, and the bottled kind.
Let’s start with the wall-mounted water cooler. You get water from this kind because it’s hooked directly to the existing water systems in the building. This means it offers an uninterrupted supply of drinking water.
The wall-mounted water coolers are hooked to the building’s electricity because it runs the unit’s refrigeration process.
Wall-mounted units are connected to the building’s plumbing system so that unused water drains directly and immediately instead of standing in a refuse basin (like it would in a bottled water cooler).
In the standard wall-mounted water cooler, a special tank holds a supply of refrigerated water so that the user doesn’t have to wait for cold water.
The system is operated by pressing a button on the front, side, or on top of the spout. Pressing the button releases the cold water through the spout; releasing the button stops the flow of water from the spout. To drink, you kneel down and sip the steady stream of water coming out of the spout.
The water is taken from the municipal supply, and generally not taken from a filtration system, though it is cooled through refrigeration, unlike the lukewarm water from most taps.
You can expect wall-mounted water coolers to have compressors, motors, condenser coils, and driers – all parts of a refrigeration system.
Now that you know all about wall-mounted systems, let’s take a look at bottled water cooler systems.
The reservoirs (bottles) of water are delivered to your home or business, or you pick them up at a refill station, depending on the provider. In the US, the standard volume of water for these coolers is a five-gallon bottle. It’s pretty heavy (five gallons!), so be careful or bring a friend to help if you have to pick up the water yourself.
To install the bottle of water, you tip it upside down onto the water cooler. There’s usually a piece on this part of the cooler that punctures the bottle’s cover to open the flow of water. If this amenity isn’t provided, you probably have to open the bottle yourself, then carefully lift it and place it upside-down in the holder.
The bottled water unit’s built-in refrigeration system chills water from the five-gallon container.
You could ask the bottled-water cooling company if they offer a “drip dry drain” – it prevents bacteria growth in the tray that collects unused water.
Here’s how water coolers are often installed:
- Professionals locate the nearest water source. For example, the plumbing connection to a sink.
- A quarter-inch line is connected to the same water source used by the sink.
- This narrow water line is run along the baseboard or through the wall or ceiling.
- The water line is then connected to the water cooler. In this case, the water is from the same source as the sink’s water. The difference is that the water cooler chills it.
Who would want water coolers?
Perhaps parents want to encourage their family to drink more water. The problem is that this family’s municipal source of water doesn’t taste so good. It’s safe, so they say, but it simply doesn’t taste good. A bottled water cooler can encourage drinking water because it’s at a desired temperature, and the filtered, bottled water has a crisp, refreshing taste.
