by Fern Shaw | Feb 21, 2021 | instant tap, Water Boilers, water cooler, Water Coolers
There are many items used to keep warm externally during when the weather is cold – something we blogged about previously. From furry pets (the best bed warmers), fuzzy socks, heavy coats to hot water bottles, options abound.
Of course, with the advent of the microwave, external body heaters mean we can avoid possible water spillage or leaking as well as negate the possibility of burns filling up a hot water bottle from the kettle. We now have heating pads available containing wheat, buckwheat or flax seed, which may sound like an alcohol brewing starter pack, but it isn’t.
As we’ve covered external body warming, we now look at hot water for warming yourself internally.
This leads us to introduce the AquAid range of water boilers. Each of these high quality, well-designed machines maintain your hot drinking water at an even temperature of 98 °C, thereby ensuring a constant supply of filtered, piping hot drinking water for all your warming hot drinks, combining both practicality and self-service all within a variety of stylish units.
For an alternate hot drinking water solution, we also supply AquAid Instant Taps. These elegant, convenient and environmentally friendly taps are space saving, compact and discreet, providing instantly ready and limitless boiling filtered water at the touch of a button.
Ideal for any workspace, office, remote work location, establishment, medical facility, university, college or school, AquAid Hot Water Boilers and Instant Taps are the perfect hot drinking water solution, meeting your requirements, all while saving you time, energy and money.
by Fern Shaw | Feb 8, 2021 | bottle fed water coolers, water cooler, Water Coolers
You may ask what the connection is, rightly so. It stems from family advice passed down through the generations – if you wanted your puds to rise and stay light and crispy during roasting in piping hot oil, ice-cold water was needed for the batter mixture. According to my Mum’s Nan, the best Yorkshire puds resulted from snapping off icicles and adding those to the batter.
It would seem that with the current weather we’re experiencing harvesting icicles for baking is a doddle. Now that we have that best baking tip sorted out, next we look at if it’s safe to use icicles or snow for your drinking water.
Generally speaking, it is safe to eat clean ice and snow during the winter in the wild outdoors. The same is not always true in urban areas where pollutants may be present. In the outdoors, pay attention to where you gather icicles. Gathering icicles from an evergreen tree in the countryside is one thing; snapping icicles from a roof edge another. If you hold an icicle up to the light and it looks clear and clean, it’s usually safe. However, there are other toxic reasons not to crunch on a snowball or lick an icicle.
Eating snow and icicles is tempting, especially when working up a sweat outside. However, you’ll want to consider where you find your seemingly delicious snow or ice. For instance, icicles formed on older homes may contain lead or other metals that are unsafe for consumption.
As we continue with self-isolation, working remotely or at a distance in the office or you if you have set up a home office, you may well ask if the chilled water from your AquAid water cooler is suitable for your food batters. It may be, however, although the cold water dispensed from your water cooler may be the perfect temperature, we would suggest that you reserve your water cooler water strictly for drinking. Especially if you are in a shared office. Whereas some of your colleagues (or family) may be delighted with your resourcefulness using chilled water from your water cooler in your baking efforts, others may not be.
Remember, for all your chilled, cool and hot water dispensers, whether Bottle-Fed or Mains-Fed; Hot Water Boilers; Hot and Cold Instant Taps as well as our range of Touch-Free Water Dispensers, speak to us at AquAid.
We remain operational and continue to take all precautions and necessary steps to reduce any risk to both staff and customers. Read our Covid-19 risk assessment.
by Fern Shaw | Jan 28, 2021 | water cooler
Benefit? Advantage? Are we playing tennis or are we referring to what installing an AquAid Hot Water Boiler, Water Cooler or Instant Taps does for you?
Being as we are the UK’s leading water cooler supplier, you can safely assume we are referring to the advantages gained and benefits provided when you install any of AquAid’s high quality water dispensers.
A few Advantages:
- AquAid offer a wide range of high quality water dispensers. The advantage here is the guarantee to have your drinking water requirements correctly fulfilled.
- With 22 branches throughout the UK, you have the advantage of a water cooler supply specialist, local to you, for your convenience.
- You gain the advantage of our now twenty-two years of operational experience, delivering exceptional service to more than 34 000 customers.
A few Benefits:
- As an AquAid customer, you benefit from our streamlined, centralised billing with the advantage of dealing with an AquAid branch, local and convenient to you.
- Wherever your location in the UK; whatever size your organisation, you and your staff and colleagues benefit from having constant access to refreshing drinking water, thereby ensuring you are all properly hydrated throughout your working day.
- We offer a free on-site survey to assess what your need is and what combination of bottled water coolers, mainsfed water coolers, hot water boilers or Instant hot water Taps to match your drinking water requirements.
- As we automatically schedule and carry out the sanitising and servicing of your water dispensers, there is no need for you to remind us.
- As an AquAid customer, you also benefit from a Corporate Social Responsibility perspective, as each bottle of water purchased and each Mains-Fed Water Dispenser installed carries with it an automatic donation to charities we, with your help, support.
To find out more about the benefits and advantages of installing an AquAid Water Cooler, we invite you to contact us using these convenient channels via Email or Call 0800 772 3003.
by Fern Shaw | Dec 16, 2020 | bottle fed water coolers, water cooler, Water Coolers
Seeing where we are, we thought it might be prudent and practical to update the guidelines around what is considered good etiquette when replenishing your water bottle or water glass at your office water cooler.
Queuing instead of gathering. Unlike previously where we referred to confusing queues, that’s unlikely to happen currently. Therefore, less queue confusion and more distance queuing is in order. The positive here is it’s unlikely that you’ll need to fight your way past other chatters seeking hydration, allowing you more time and easier access to your cool water or hot water for your lemon water, tea, coffee or a newcomer, the bubble tea (more on this in another instalment).
Distance dispensing. We’re sure that every employer, as with all employees, is making sure that their office or workspace is routinely sanitised and cleansed, to ensure you a safe working environment, with you doing your bit, of course. At AquAid, each of our range of top quality water dispensers is designed in keeping with the highest levels of hygiene at the forefront. This includes the recent introduction of a range of Touch-Free hot and cold water dispensers as well as a non-touch, easy fit attachment for our entire range of hot water boilers.
Sanitise, sanitise, sanitise. As with distance dispensing, maintaining good sanitisation habits protects both you and your colleagues. Again, integral to our business, we understand the importance of sanitisation, which is why we sanitise all Bottled water coolers every three months and all Mainsfed water dispensers every six months.
But, what about your water cooler supplier? How are they helping to ensure a constant, safe supply of drinking water? Rest assured that here at AquAid, we continue to take all precautions and necessary steps to reduce any risk to both staff and customers.
We’re sure, with these updated water cooler etiquettes, we can continue to band together (at a respectful distance, mind) to keep the water cooler the friendliest spot in the office, wherever that may be.
by Fern Shaw | Dec 16, 2020 | water cooler
It has been a while. In a while, crocodile? Longer than that. The length of five crocodiles, from tip to tail perhaps.
Think of this instalment as a great refresher in time for the festive season. Where you could become one of those walking, talking cracker inserts, spouting witticisms with ease. You may be brained with a gravy boat, but let’s hope not. Perhaps advisable to test them out in your work bubble, on your colleagues, when you meet (at a distance) during your water cooler break.
To find previous instalments, here they are: Witticisms I and Witticism II
Without further ado, let’s launch into this year’s batch:
In the buff. A buff-coat was a light brownish/yellow leather tunic worn by English soldiers up until the 17th century. The original meaning of ‘in the buff’ was simply to be wearing such a coat. Later on, ‘in the buff’ was used to mean naked, due to the colour of the skin, which is similar to the buff coat.*
Mad as a hatter. Nineteenth century mercury was used in the making of hats. This was known to have affected the nervous systems of hatters, causing them to tremble and appear insane. Mercury poisoning is still known today as ‘Mad Hatter’s disease’*. Rather grim, this.
Frog in the throat. The earliest use of this name for a sore throat, was actually supposed to be a ‘cure’. In The Stevens Point Journal, November 1894, the Taylor Bros advertised a medicine called ‘Frog in the Throat’ that will ‘cure hoarseness’ for only 10 cents a box*. Own up, if you, like me, are as gobsmacked about the origin of this expression.
Barking mad. The most probable meaning for this phrase is a reference to rabid dogs, barking in their madness. A more interesting (but less likely) tale is that ‘barking mad’ originates from the east London suburb of Barking, where there was an asylum for the insane during the medieval period.*
Busy as a bee. Chaucer coined the term in the Squire’s Tale, from his Canterbury Tales, around 1386-1400.*
As suggested before – to ensure you don’t get dinged on the head with a gravy boat (or similar) while regaling your nearest and dearest at Christmas, we suggest a gradual entry into potential hot water – by trying the witticisms out on your workmates first. First (and safest) prize is when you replenish your drinking water while on a water cooler break as you regale your colleagues from a remote workspace.
source: excerpts from an article at The Stylist
by Fern Shaw | Dec 16, 2020 | water cooler
Irrespective of what stage of life we are at or what aspect of life we’re approaching, we are forever exhorted to maintain balance.
Researching ‘maintaining balance’ produces multiple results, the majority which refer to a work-life balance. While not surprising, we believe the act of balancing encompasses far more.
Body balance. Our ability to balance relies on multiple factors within our physical makeup. From when we take our first steps, we’re learning how important balance is. According to Wiki: The sense of balance is the perception of balance and spatial orientation. It helps prevent humans from falling over when standing or moving. Equilibrioception is the result of a number of sensory systems working together: the eyes (visual system), the inner ears (vestibular system), and the body’s sense of where it is in space (proprioception) ideally need to be intact.
As an example, this is why we tend to feel out of balance and uncoordinated when we have a head cold or hay fever where our sinus and nasal passages are blocked up.
Day to day balance. Even if our work is our passion, there’s no denying that a balance needs to be found in our daily life. Instead of a work-life balance, as working is part of life, we think it’s perhaps better to term it a combination of work, play and rest. Balancing these three aspects of life may be easier said than achieved, however, they are achievable. The trick may be is to recognise when we are feeling off kilter and from there make sure that we practise more of what has been ignored.
Where does drinking water fit into balance? Simply put, maintaining proper hydration helps immensely with the mind and body’s ability to function well. This includes our ability to balance, whether we tend to being more sedentary or more active. As we continue to drink enough water, it helps keep the nasal passages clear, muscles are better equipped to perform more easily and joints have more lubrication.
Finally, perhaps the best indicator of how important it is to maintain balance comes from ancient philosophy, specifically, from Aristotle who said, “Moderation in all things.”
