by Fern Shaw | Jul 16, 2019 | Africa Trust, water cooler, Water Coolers
Irrespective of whether or not you believe in climate change, there’s no denying that the stats resulting from the radically changing weather patterns year on year or the crucial drop in natural water supply globally speak volumes:
844 Million People – 1 in 10 – lack access to safe water.
200 Million Hours are spent every day collecting water.
2.3 Billion People – 1 in 3 – lack access to a toilet.
One third of the global population lives without access to a toilet.
The ramifications of these stats and the volume of people it affects can seem quite daunting in terms of how to address this global issue. There is good news though: there are multiple organisations around the world that continue, every day, to provide sustainable solutions to the lack of water as well as adequate sanitation to those in need.
Sustainability may seem like the buzz word of the millennium – bandied about without much meaning, but the truth of it is – sustainability is vital in the provision of water and sanitation to those for who access to water is an ongoing fight for actual survival.
Sustainable water projects are those that include both short term and long term solutions which pave the way forward by enabling a community to begin water related projects that may provide them with a capacity to earn an income or to trade their produce or services to others.
There’s much truth in the adage, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime’, but before we implement this philosophy, help is needed to provide water to communities that more often than not, do not have the most basic of infrastructures for a steady supply of water.
That’s why here at AquAid Water Coolers we have, since our humble beginnings more than two decades ago, partnered with charities that not only provide emergency relief but also sustainable solutions to poverty around the globe, as is the case with Christian Aid and in the case of the Africa Trust, throughout Africa.
To learn more about the work that these organisations carry out, see how your water and water cooler purchases are making a visible positive difference to others. Alternatively, if you are not yet an AquAid customer, but would like to find out more about how your drinking water translates into sustainable clean water provision for people in need, please contact us: we’ll be delighted to assist.
by Fern Shaw | Jun 3, 2019 | bottle fed water coolers, mains fed water cooler, Water Coolers
How do bottle fed coolers and mains fed coolers differ?
Bottle fed water coolers are free standing units that use a large polycarbonate bottle to deliver water, and can be either bottom or top loaded. Mains fed water coolers connect to the main water supply and utilise filtration services to provide clean, refreshing, chilled water. Both types of water coolers have an on/off switch that controls the cooling and/or heating functions of the dispenser.
How is the water kept cold?
In order to chill the water prior to dispensation, water coolers have a reservoir within the dispenser that holds a set amount of water. The reservoir is the place where the water is chilled by a refrigerant, or through thermoelectricity.
What stops the bottle fed dispenser water from flooding?
When the bottle of water is inverted and placed into the opening on the top of the water cooler, the seal of the water bottle is severed or punctured by a part referred to as the ‘spike’, allowing the water to flow into the water cooler. Inside the water cooler is a valve that prevents the water from the bottle flooding the water cooler.
How are the water coolers kept clean?
Both Bottle-Fed and Mains-Fed Dispensers are kept clean by being sanitised.
At AquAid, bottle fed machines are sanitised every 3 months. Mains fed are sanitised every 6 months.
An ozone generator is used for this purpose.
What is an ozone generator?
Ozone (O3) is a gas very similar to normal oxygen (O2), just with an added oxygen molecule. In water the effect of ozone is that it will kill all unwanted bacteria, spores and viruses, leaving the water container and water dispenser clean, clear and safe.
Where does the water in the coolers originate from?
Based on your location, the bottled water delivered to you from AquAid is either water bottled at source, or drawn from natural springs in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
All the spring water is bottled at source.
The water is poured directly into the various sized bottles which are hermetically sealed to lock in the natural purity.
And there it remains until it emerges from your water cooler, just as it left the source: cool and pure.
What benefits derive from installing an AquAid Water Cooler?
We offer a free on-site survey to assess what your needs are and what combination of hot water boilers, bottle-fed water coolers or mains-fed water coolers best suit your requirements.
Your personal Account Manager, based at our head office and reporting directly to the Managing Director, is dedicated to providing the highest level of service to meet your exact needs.
A single point of contact for placing new orders and making any enquiries, along with a centralised billing system allows for a streamlined process that delivers maximum efficiency.
If any issues arise, your local depot is encouraged to speak directly to our local depot which facilitates immediate action and minimises any potential misunderstandings or delays.
Regular spend report analysis and account reviews allow us to measure and track performance to highlight any cost saving opportunities and to ensure we are constantly meeting your goals.
By partnering with us, an award-winning design water pump, dedicated to and bearing your company name, will be built in Africa which will bring life-saving water to hundreds of families every day.
by Fern Shaw | May 29, 2019 | water cooler, Water Coolers
At AquAid Water Coolers, we’ve been in the business of water provision for 21 years, supplying a wide range of high quality water coolers and drinking water to customers throughout the UK.
We value our customers as we understand that they are the backbone to our business, enabling us to grow from our humble beginnings in 1998 to now, one of the UK’s largest water cooler suppliers.
Just as important to us, and an integral part of our business ethos since we began, is our commitment to helping those in need. In this manner AquAid has, to date, donated over £14 million to charity and have helped more than 6 million people.
Another organisation (and valued customer) committed to creating a sustainable environment and better future for all is LKM Recycling.
We recently invited them to take part in a charity initiative: this involved the building of a water well (known as an Elephant Pump) which enables a community in Africa direct access to safe drinking water. This well building program is instituted by an AquAid founded charity – the Africa Trust – which since its inception in 2010, has built more than 8,000 such wells throughout sub-Saharan Africa, providing potable water to over 2 million people.
We were delighted when they agreed to take part in the well building and even more pleased to be able to present them with a photo of their built and named well in June of 2018. We found out a little more about LKM Recycling during the well building period:
“The mission of LKM Recycling is dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride & company spirit.”
They offer total waste management services across a wide range of sectors including:
- Metal recycling
- Plastic recycling
- Wood recycling
- Paper recycling
- Cardboard recycling
- Scrap Vehicle Recycling
- Skip Hire Services
- Confidential Shredding services
Marketing Manager at LKM Recycling, Simon Baxter, had this to say, “We operate a zero to Landfill policy which means we divert as much waste possible away from landfill and towards recycling.
We have recently opened a waste transfer station in Sittingbourne to handle multiple waste streams to support our growing domestic skip hire business.
We have also recently opened a new confidential shredding facility that can shred and recycle confidential documents from our customers. This means less paper waste ending up in landfill and helps protect businesses from the GDPR laws.”
Here at AquAid, we’d just like to thank all at LKM Recycling for their continued custom, their support with getting an Elephant Pump built as well as their raising awareness about what their support produced.
If you currently have an AquAid water cooler and would like to find out how you can go about sponsoring your very own water well, at no extra cost, please contact us.
If you would like to enquire about installing a water cooler, where your hydration means the provision of safe water delivery to people in need, please do get in touch.
by Fern Shaw | May 21, 2019 | Water Coolers
Noise Action Week, which is co-ordinated by the Environmental Protection UK, takes place between 20 and 25 May this year.
If you believe that noise can have a negative effect on your well-being, you’re not alone.
There are millions of Britons affected by noise and our ability to reduce ambient noise, considering the hi-tech and noise producing gadgets that are considered almost imperative to our daily lives, may make this untenable.
There is increasing evidence that long-term environmental noise above a certain level can have a negative influence on your health. These effects can be physical, mental and possibly even disrupt children’s learning.
It’s not all unmanageable though, and where it may be unlikely that you may be able to relocate to a quieter environment right now, there are a number of actions you can take in your personal capacity to cut down on the noise:
Be mindful, wherever you are. If music or news is your go to when heading out/home each day, use headphones. If you prefer the opposite, use noise cancelling headphones.
Set time aside at home to be quiet. Switch off and unplug what you can every day and especially where you sleep. Rediscover reading a book in the bath. Practice quieter exercise.
Build a bookcase against an exterior wall – stacks of books can help reduce noise. Hanging thick curtains can also help dampen sound. Reinforce your windows where possible.
If you can’t combat external sources of noise, opt for white noise. It contradicts the idea of reducing noise by switching off and unplugging, but sometimes we need to work with the environment we’re in.
Use earplugs, with caution. If you can’t cope with noise, at all, earplugs can be a good option, although it’s important that you use plugs that can’t be pushed too far into the ear, that are comfortable and mouldable to your ear and are easy to remove and clean.
At AquAid we’re constantly striving to reduce our impact on the environment where we can: scheduled bottled water deliveries; 23 branches throughout the UK to keep your water coolers ‘local’ and of course, noiseless water coolers dispensing chilled or piping hot water at the push of a button.
by Fern Shaw | May 14, 2019 | Water Coolers
We all know water coolers don’t really inspire much passion in a person, the caveat being unless you design and build water coolers that is. Or supply them. Or drink from them. Or take a break and chat to your colleagues around them. Okay, so perhaps there is more passion in there than one thinks.
For those of us that still don’t find any inspiration from water coolers, we have some great news – there’s nothing quite as inspirational as installing water coolers from AquAid. Here’s why:
- We don’t just supply delicious spring and bottled at source water for your bottled water cooler. We’ll help you decide on which water coolers are best for your particular requirements.
- It may be that you need mains-fed water coolers instead of bottle-fed. That’s absolutely no problem, we have a wide range – you can rely on our 21 years’ experience to ensure we install the right water dispenser.
- Your AquAid water coolers, whether they dispense refreshing chilled water only, cold and hot water or piping hot water only, will be kept in tip top condition by your experienced AquAid engineer. Bottle-Fed machines are sanitised every three months and Mains-Fed every six months.
- As you proceed on your hydration journey is when the inspiration aspect of your water cooler installation begins. For each bottle of water purchased and each mains-fed machine installed, we donate a portion of these sales to charity.
- Charities such as Christian Aid and the Africa Trust. Donations that are used to implement sustainable water projects, delivering potable water to thousands of water bereft communities throughout Africa.
This means that for each sip of water you drink – boosting both your physical and mental health and well-being as you go about your working day – you are simultaneously contributing to a more positive, safe water rich future for millions of people in need.
Pretty powerful insipiration we’re sure you’ll agree.
To find out how we can best meet your daily hydration needs, contact us today. We’re easy to reach:
by Fern Shaw | Apr 5, 2019 | Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
Keeping oneself hydration fit is vitally important, irrespective of what season it is.
We all intend to do the right thing when it comes to keeping fit, but the demands of day-to-day life can tend to trip us up despite our best intentions. Here, at AquAid Water Coolers we always want to help where we can to ensure that at the very least, you keep yourself well hydrated throughout your day, no matter your schedule.
If you’ve launched into a great keep fit regime this spring, here’s a bit of info that may help you on your get fit and keep hydrated journey:
Recognising dehydration
- A large percentage of the UK population are chronically dehydrated. Can you remember when last you drank more than a glass of water a day? Keep in mind that the average adult should be drinking a minimum of eight glasses of water per day.
- Dehydration occurs when more fluid leaves your body than is taken in. Symptoms include: fatigue, irritability, headaches and nausea.
- Dehydration also slows your metabolism, which hinders your ability to exercise as well as the ability to lose weight.
Maintaining a balance
Applying the logic to avoid reaching the stage where you’re dehydrated is quite straight-forward – you need to maintain a water balance. There are many factors to consider on how much water you’re losing, especially when you’re being active: age, gender, health, body mass, environmental conditions and physical activity all play a role.
Once you have a better idea of about how much water you lose in an active day vs. how much water you should be drinking it’s time to:
Get moving
Even if you feel sluggish and low in energy, make the effort to do 20-30 minutes exercise daily. If you’re not that keen to participate in organised activities, a brisk walk around the block will be enough to energise you and reduce fatigue.
Sleep well
Make sure you get enough sleep. Depending on your daily schedule and work hours, try to go to bed at the same time, do not eat or drink caffeine before going to bed and move the telly out of the bedroom.
Eat well
There are innumerable eating and weight loss plans and these can often hinder rather than help.
Whatever food plan you decide upon, again logic dictates: in order to function, your body needs fuel, so try to ensure that your food fuel consists of a balanced diet.
If you’re prone to the ‘quick fix’ when eating, which usually consist of processed and sugar rich food and drinks, the good news is if you step up and start drinking enough water to keep yourself hydrated, you will feel fuller and the temptation to sate your appetite as quickly as possible, will lessen.
Make use of your water cooler!
As you begin your happy and healthy get fit plan, having a water cooler wherever you are at work could honestly not make drinking water easier for you. There’s also the added advantage of you being able to get through your work day more easily as studies have proven that taking even a five minute break to stretch out and walk to replenish your water makes a significant difference on your performance and well-being.
updated from a 17 March 2017 blog
