by Fern Shaw | Nov 13, 2013 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Even though AquAid have ensured from Day 1 that the water coolers that we supply are of tip top quality and are supplied to the customer in a manner that is most practical to the customer’s requirements, life is such that water coolers can have off days.
As we know, anything that has a mechanism can play up and they do. While researching water cooler fails, I happened upon some accidents of the more unusual variety. As you may by now know, I’m all for the slightly off the beaten track incidents – they just really appeal to my sense of funny. Be warned, some of these are not for the faint of heart:
Molasses spill
A molasses pipeline in Honolulu Harbour, Hawaii, was pumping the syrupy substance onto a ship when it sprung a leak, dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of the goo into the ocean. The sugary fluid, which sunk to the bottom, killed thousands of fish, attracting sharks and other scavengers.
The Hawaii spill is not the first molasses mishap. A truck in Wagontire, Oregon, swerved to avoid a deer in 2008, spilling hundreds of gallons of molasses over the highway. And in 1919, during the Boston Molasses Disaster, a tank carrying 2.5 million gallons of molasses burst, flooding the city’s streets and killing 21 people.
Whale guts
In 2004, a whale carcass exploded while being transported from a beach where it died to a laboratory in the Taiwanese city of Tainan, according to BBC News. Gas build-up inside the decomposing cetacean was thought to be responsible for the explosion, which took 13 hours and 50 workers to clean up.
Rubber ducks
In 1992, 29,000 rubber duck toys, being shipped from China to the U.S. company The First Years Inc., washed overboard in the Pacific Ocean, the Daily Mail reported. Some 10,000 of the duckies floated northward, while the remainder took a southerly route. They have washed up in Hawaii, Australia and even the Arctic.
Honeybees
In the past few years, honeybees have spilled onto highways in Montana, Canada and California, where 10 million to 16 million angry buzzers responded by stinging fire fighters, police and drivers. Honeybee hives are regularly shipped to farms around the country to pollinate crops, since colony collapse disorder has decimated local bee populations.
I suppose, in this sea of rather grisly and sticky accounts of spills and mishaps, it’s nice to know that should your water cooler malfunction to such a degree, the worst thing spilling will be water – really not hard to clean up and no sticky, messy residue.
Just remember to keep that weird worker in IT from trying to suck the water from the carpets – it’s just really not done.
by Fern Shaw | Nov 13, 2013 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Well, feed me nails and call me Rusty!
Trying to untangle the meaning of the water cooler effect, I came across this little gem on Wiki: ‘A water cooler effect is a phenomenon, occurring when employees at a workplace gather around the office water cooler and chat. It is a synonym for gathering and connecting people in a certain environment (e.g. the office). When a television program, like a soap-opera or series, is talked about among many people (mostly related to guessing what will happen in the next episode) it can be said that the program has a water cooler effect.
See also: Scuttlebutt ‘.
So, I leapt onto my trusty mouse and galloped across to scuttlebutt-land. This is what Wiki had to say:
Scuttlebutt in slang usage means rumour or gossip, deriving from the nautical term for the cask used to serve water (or, later, an indoor water fountain).
The term corresponds to the colloquial concept of a water cooler in an office setting, which at times becomes the focus of congregation and casual discussion. Water for immediate consumption on a sailing ship was conventionally stored in a scuttled butt: a butt (cask) which had been scuttled by making a hole in it so the water could be withdrawn. Since sailors exchanged gossip when they gathered at the scuttlebutt for a drink of water, scuttlebutt became Navy slang for gossip or rumours.
Competition
Hoisting the scuttlebutt is an event that Sea Scouts participate in during regattas such as the Old Salts Regatta. In the event a 50-gallon drum of water is lifted 3 feet off the ground using a block and tackle and a tripod. The tripod is constructed from three spars, which are tied together by “head-lashing.” The block and tackle is suspended from the top of the tripod, which is then erected by the crew. A barrel hitch is tied around the drum, which is then lifted off the ground. It must then be lowered and the equipment “broken down” back to its original condition. Time stops when all crew members are back in line and called to attention by the coxswain. There are three runs per crew, and the crew with the fastest time wins. Disqualification can occur when water is spilled – lash them! or if crew other than the coxswain (and sometimes the barrel hitchers) talk (count me out then). A run under a minute is generally considered good, though times much lower than this have been seen in competition.
History
This event is based on activities that crews used to have to perform on ships very frequently. Water or other goods such as cargo would be stored below deck. A tripod would be put up on the deck over a hole, and the cargo lifted up out of the stores. The modern event is based on this practice.
All I can say at this sweat inducing stage is, how lucky we all are that nowadays should you need drinking water, you just contact us. Us being AquAid. We’ll get your cool, fresh drinking water to you toot suit. If you want to scuttlebutt afterwards around the water cooler, that’s entirely up to you.
by Fern Shaw | Nov 1, 2013 | Water Boilers, water cooler, Water Coolers
Waxing philosophical (waxing possibly originating from the German word wachsen (to grow)) about water, I first thought of this one *pointing upwards*. The full proverb reads like this:
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
Meaning
People, like horses, will only do what they have a mind to do.
Origin
This proverb might be thought to encapsulate the English-speaking people’s mind set better than any other saying, as it appears to be the oldest English proverb that is still in regular use today. It was recorded as early as 1175 in Old English Homilies:
‘Hwa is thet mei thet hors wettrien the him self nule drinken’
Sticking with the water theme, here are some more corkers:
A fish out of water
Not feeling at home where you are.
Blood is thicker than water
Family is more important than anyone or anything else.
Don’t make waves
Don’t make trouble; do what others are doing.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water
When you’re making a change, save what matters to you and dispose of the rest.
You bring water to the sea
You take advantage of something.
It would seem that water is an integral part of life, even to do with philosophy. As you can see from the image headlining today’s blog, we even have our resident horse, Hoss, moonlighting as a zebra and lurking around the water cooler in the AquAid Africa office. Rather fitting, or, as they say in the classics, ‘if the hoof (harf harf) fits, wear it’, keeping in mind the whole zebra + Africa + … connection. Geddit? Geddit?
As you may imagine, I have used a lot of poetic license here, because truly, although we like to think of ourselves as being rather creative in this division of AquAid, we don’t really have a horse doubling as a zebra in our office lurking around the water cooler.
Disappointed? Never mind, so am I!
What we do have though, are water coolers:
Ask away, we’ve oodles of water cooler knowledge and experience and are happy to help. Click here. Neiggghhhhhh!
by Fern Shaw | Oct 16, 2013 | Health and Hydration, water cooler, Water Coolers
I still giggle when I think about drinking water fountains. Heavens only know why. We used to have one in the dojo I did karate at (jaha – more to this blogista than just a keyboard I tell ya). I just thought the water fountain was awfully clever. Our school certainly didn’t have them. No siree Bob, our school had school toilets – ugh – and school basins – double ugh – and Lifebuoy soap – *shudder*.
Then, schools changed and we got lucky. How so, you ask? This so, I say:
AquAid’s stylish drinking water fountains make a great addition to any school, gym or area where a high volume of water is required. Research has shown that children do not drink enough water during the school day which is why AquAid are one of the UK’s leading providers of water coolers and drinking fountains to schools. These machines offer you the added benefit of being durable as well as only using a small footprint.
Water Fountain – features:
- Rugged Steel construction
- Stainless steel sink top
- Both Swan neck and bubble options
- Extremely durable with proven reliability
- Drainage and mains water required
- Coil on Coil refrigerated cooling system resulting in reduced running costs
- Environmentally friendly
Why the emphasis on Water Coolers & Drinking Fountains for Schools?
Dehydration is serious for all of us, but no more so than to our children. At the time a child starts to feel thirsty, they will have already lost more than 20% of their ability to perform both physically and mentally. The direct result of this is not only a worsened academic performance but also lower concentration spans leading to increased classroom disruption.
An experiment in ‘brain hydration’ carried out at an Edinburgh primary school showed that the introduction of water bottles on pupils’ desks led to a significant improvement in national test results over a 2 year period. Despite these important facts:
- Two-thirds of children are still not getting enough drinking water, and
- A fifth of children drink no water at all,
according to research conducted by the Department of Health and Food Standards Agency.
So, this is rather marvellous news all round as having easy access to drinking water means a healthier and happier child, who is more able to pay attention in class, will have a better capacity to learn and will have sufficient (but not sugar-filled) energy to get through the day.
Please, contact us at AquAid today, we’ll be more than happy to take you through the choices for the optimum water cooler for use at your school; gym or play area.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 14, 2013 | Charity, Health and Hydration, water cooler, Water Coolers
Remember the heat wave? You must – it was only a month or so ago. Now, take those temperatures and turn up the heat, so to speak, by a good 8 °C. Or for that matter, another 10°C.
Now, take a good 38°C and couple it with scant shade … and … no water.
Then, to this rather sweltering image, add this: If you want drinking water, you need to walk to go and find it. And not just down to the corner caf, but a few miles. When you get there, you can’t just buy a bottle of water (or any liquid for that matter); you have to fill the bucket that you brought with you and walk back home, carrying the now full bucket.
Not enough Bear Grylls for you? The water that you’ve just fetched is most likely, not fresh, and not clean and may be so full of bacteria, that even while trying to hydrate yourself, you may very well be making yourself ill without even realising it.
Remember, this is just water for you (and possibly, members of your family) to drink. This is not water that is needed to wash your clothes or your dishes or to water your meagre food crop with. This is just water to drink to keep you going. This is basic human survival type of stuff.
This is the day to day existence for many communities throughout the Third World and in the summer months, lack of potable water is amplified by the heat.
That’s just one of the reasons that AquAid chose to work with sustainable charities like The Africa Trust.
Because although we’re always tooting our horn about being one of the top water cooler providers in the U.K. we also (truly) believe in helping others less fortunate to help themselves. So, while we have you to thank, most valued customer, for your support and through your purchases making it possible for others to help themselves; isn’t it rather nice to know that when you’re sipping cool spring water from one of our water coolers, there’s another Elephant Pump being built in Africa, bringing fresh, clean drinking water to yet another community in need?
I think so. Good on yer. Toot toot!
by Fern Shaw | Oct 7, 2013 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Who among us doesn’t just love jetting water? Think about it – from those rather absurd, no-flow control drinking water fountains of yesteryear, to magical musical fountains which lit up in all the rainbow colours and the quintessential exploding water bombs and pranking someone with an unexpected squirt of water …
In the early 19th century, London and Paris built aqueducts and new fountains to supply clean drinking water to their exploding populations.
Fountains became a decorative feature of the English country house as early as the end of the 17th century. These baroque fountains were influenced by the fountains of the Italian Renaissance garden and the Garden à la française, particularly the fountains of Versailles. Chatsworth House in Derbyshire featured a cascade and fountains (1696-1703) in the style of French baroque gardens. It had a seahorse fountain and a willow tree fountain, which sprayed water on unsuspecting visitors.
In 1843 the Duke of Devonshire, the owner of Chatworth House, learned that the Tsar Nicholas of Russia was planning to visit his home. To mark the occasion, the Duke commissioned the architect Richard Paxton to construct the world’s highest fountain on his estate. Paxton built an eight-acre lake as a reservoir for the fountain, 350 feet above the level of the fountain, to provide water pressure. The Emperor Fountain was finished in just six months, and could jet water 296 feet high. Unfortunately the Tsar never came to see fountain, but it still functions today.
In the nineteenth century, the development of steam engines allowed the construction of more dramatic fountains. In the middle of the century the Earl of Stamford built the Great Fountain, Enville, which jetted water 150 feet above the surface of a lake on his estate. He used two steam engines to pump water to a reservoir at the top of the hill above his estate. The fountain could spout water for several minutes, until the reservoir was empty.
In the early 21st Century, Lord Neidpath (now Earl of Wemyss and March) commissioned a giant, gravity-fed fountain at his family’s ancestral home of Stanway House, in the Cotswolds. The fountain is driven by two reservoirs over a mile from the Canal in the gardens of the house, and the custom-made bronze nozzle in the lake can produce a plume of water 300ft tall. The fountain is the tallest gravity-fed fountain in the world, and the second tallest fountain of any kind in Europe.
Now that we have your attention, in a water fountain manner of speaking, in the next instalment, I’ll be telling you all about AquAid’s super functional (and pretty darn decorative) drinking water fountains, most especially effective when placed in schools to optimise healthy hydration habits for children.
If you’d like a preview, please do follow through here.
