by Fern Shaw | Nov 2, 2026 | Charity, water cooler, Water Coolers
In a recent blog, we celebrated a significant milestone: AquAid Water Coolers has now donated an incredible £25 million to the charities we’ve supported since our humble beginnings in 1998.
It’s a remarkable achievement, but it also raises an interesting question: where does all that funding go and what does it help to achieve?
More than water: creating opportunities for the future
Charitable funding can support far more than the installation of a water pump or the construction of a well. From improving sanitation and supporting education to helping families grow food and generate an income, these initiatives create opportunities for communities to build more sustainable futures.
Building sustainable water resources
Access to safe, reliable water is often the starting point for positive change in communities facing challenging living conditions.
Through organisations such as the AquAid founded The Africa Trust, funding helps provide essential resources, including durable water wells, hygienic toilets and practical training. But the support goes much further than simply bringing water closer to home.
The Africa Trust believes that one of the most effective ways to break the cycle of poverty is to empower communities to support themselves. Its work has included helping to fund orphanages, improve clinics, pay school fees and provide skills training, giving thousands of children and adults greater opportunities to improve their circumstances.
Access to clean, productive water and decent sanitation is an important part of this approach. By combining essential infrastructure with education and practical skills, communities are better equipped to manage their own resources and build towards a more secure future.
Growing bananas helps towards school fees
A single water well can create opportunities that extend far beyond access to drinking water.
Take the installation of an Elephant Pump, for example. These robust water pumps provide a reliable source of water for entire communities, reducing the need for children to spend hours walking long distances to collect it.
That extra time gives children more opportunity to attend school and concentrate on their education.
A reliable water supply also creates opportunities to grow food and generate an income. Families can plant and irrigate banana plants, harvest the fruit and sell it at local markets. The money raised can then go towards essential expenses, including school fees.
It’s a simple but effective example of how access to water can support education, food production and greater financial independence, all at the same time.
A bag of cement can help prevent disease
Clean water is essential, but good sanitation is just as important when it comes to protecting community health.
Without access to proper toilets, people are at greater risk of contracting serious waterborne diseases, such as cholera and dysentery.
One practical initiative helps address this by providing households with a bag of cement, alongside guidance on how to build their own hygienic toilet facilities.
This relatively straightforward approach gives families the materials and knowledge needed to improve sanitation in their homes. Better toilet facilities help prevent human waste from contaminating the surrounding environment and water sources, reducing the risk of potentially life-threatening diseases.
It’s another example of how relatively simple resources, combined with practical knowledge, can help communities make lasting improvements to everyday living conditions.
Harnessing the sun to grow more food
Reliable water supplies are also essential for agriculture, particularly for small-scale farmers who depend on their crops to feed their families and earn a living.
Unpredictable rainfall and increasingly challenging growing conditions can make farming difficult. Without reliable irrigation, crops may fail, leaving households struggling to afford everyday essentials.
Solar-powered water pumps offer a practical solution.
Using energy from the sun to draw and distribute water, these systems provide a more dependable way to irrigate farmland, helping farmers grow crops even when rainfall is limited.
Alongside improved irrigation, projects can introduce conservation agriculture techniques and encourage farmers to diversify the crops they grow, including varieties better suited to drier conditions.
These systems can also support access to safe household water, extending the benefits beyond the fields.
For farming families, a more reliable water supply can mean healthier crops, more consistent harvests and a better opportunity to provide for their households.
£25 million and counting
Reaching £25 million in charitable donations is a milestone worth celebrating but behind that figure are countless individual stories of opportunity and progress.
From children able to attend school instead of spending hours collecting water, to families growing and selling crops and communities building safer sanitation facilities, the funding helps turn essential resources into practical, lasting improvements.
Every project is different, but the underlying goal remains the same: helping communities access the resources, knowledge and opportunities they need to build a healthier, more sustainable future.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 27, 2026 | Christian Aid, water cooler, Water Coolers
If the maths isn’t mathing, allow us to explain. Twenty twenty-six has been quite a year. Not least because, at AquAid, we’ve passed two £1 million milestones in the same year, moving from £24 million to £25 million in charitable donations.
Yes, you read that correctly – at the time of writing, we’ve officially topped £25 million donated to charity.
Charity – all from drinking water
For more than 25 years (in this, our 28th year of operations, to be precise), AquAid has donated a portion of its revenue to charity. Through our charity partners, The Africa Trust and Christian Aid, this support helps fund sustainable water projects and has contributed to providing more than 4.5 million people with access to safe water.
Water dispensers that do more
Since 1998, AquAid’s provision of a wide range of quality water dispensers and bottled water deliveries has helped communities gain access to a reliable source of safe drinking water. What begins with an everyday essential extends far beyond the water cooler, helping fund projects that provide lasting benefits for communities.
Our customers – the backbone of our business
Of course, we think our customers are the best (because they are). It’s thanks to their continued support and valued custom that we can keep donating to charity. Every customer who chooses AquAid as their drinking water and water cooler supplier becomes part of that ongoing commitment, helping us support the work of our charity partners and the communities they serve.
Every drink tells part of the story
We’ll explore the whys and wherefores of where these funds go and what they help achieve in more detail in upcoming blogs. For now, suffice to say we’re delighted to have reached this milestone and are thrilled to be able to make this announcement.
Most importantly, this is a sincere thank you to our customers. Without you, this achievement simply wouldn’t have been possible.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 19, 2026 | mains fed water cooler, Water Boilers, water cooler, Water Coolers
There’s a point when the weather turns cooler and our habits begin to change. Coats, puffer jackets and boots reappear, windows stay closed and the appeal of drinking chilled water can give way to something warmer. Even the quick refresh at the water cooler might become a little less frequent.
But does our need for drinking water change with the temperature?
Out with the Sun, Out with the Water Bottle?
During warmer weather, drinking water tends to be more front of mind. We feel hot, we sweat more and reaching for a drink comes naturally. When temperatures drop, thirst may be less noticeable, so it’s easy to drink less without really thinking about it.
The trouble is that our bodies still need water throughout the year. Colder weather doesn’t mean hydration can be put on hold, even if the urge to reach for a chilled drink has lost some of its appeal.
The trick is to keep drinking regularly rather than relying entirely on feeling thirsty. Keeping our bottled water topped up and nearby is a useful reminder, particularly when work gets busy and the next meeting seems to arrive before the last one has finished.
A Change of Temperature, Not a Change of Habit
Seasonal changes can influence what people reach for. Some will continue to favour cold drinking water, while others may be more tempted by a hot drink.
A well-positioned water cooler can keep drinking water readily available, whatever the weather. And where preferences change, having access to hot water, such as a hot water boiler or a hot and cold water cooler can be useful.
For organisations reviewing their facilities, the practical considerations remain much the same. Whether a site uses mains fed water coolers or another arrangement, the aim is to make drinking water accessible throughout the day.
Keep the Water Habit Going
Of course, the weather rarely follows a timetable. A chilly morning can turn into a surprisingly warm afternoon, and indoor heating can make a difference too. Our drinking habits need to accommodate more than the weather we see when we look out of the window.
So, as the seasons change, there’s no need for a complete rethink. Keep water within reach, drink regularly and remember that the need for hydration doesn’t disappear when the summer clothes go back in the wardrobe.
The weather can do what it likes. Your water-drinking habit can stay put.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 12, 2026 | Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
We tend to notice our joints only when they complain. Knees, hips, fingers, shoulders – suddenly, we become very aware of just how vital their ease of movement is to our health and well-being.
This World Arthritis Day, we explore some of the ways we can support our joints, bones and muscles.
Water works behind the scenes
Water plays a key role in the fluid around our joints, helping to cushion and lubricate them, while also supporting normal muscle function. Staying hydrated won’t cure arthritis but it can help our bodies function more comfortably and with less strain.
A little extra support
Did you know that pennywort, turmeric and ginger have all attracted interest for their potential anti-inflammatory properties? These natural ingredients have a long history of traditional use and research continues to explore their possible benefits for joint health.
Alongside drinking enough water, a healthy, balanced diet provides another way to support our bodies. You may even have come across the idea of an alkaline or pH-balanced diet to support joint health. It’s an interesting area of discussion and a reminder of just how much attention is given to the connection between what we consume and how we feel.
Keep moving
Movement is another important part of looking after joints and muscles. Regular physical activity can help maintain strength, flexibility and range of movement, while stronger muscles can provide support around vulnerable joints.
That doesn’t have to mean running a marathon or taking up an entirely new hobby. A walk, a swim, some gentle stretching or simply getting up and moving around during the day can all make a positive difference.
So, this World Arthritis Day, perhaps the message is less about what our joints can’t do and more about giving them a little support for everything they do.
Fill up your glass, take a drink and keep moving where you can. Your future self – bones, joints and muscles – may benefit.
Sources
NHS
British Dietetic Association
Arthritis Foundation
by Fern Shaw | Oct 5, 2026 | bottle fed water coolers, mains fed water cooler, water cooler, Water Coolers
A theatre during a long production. A hotel preparing for a conference. A university campus at the start of term. At first glance, they don’t have much in common.
One is preparing for an audience. Another is getting ready to welcome hundreds of delegates. The third is about to fill with students, lecturers and staff after the relative calm of the holidays.
Yet there’s one thing they all have in common: people need somewhere to get a drink of water while everything else is going on. And that’s where things get interesting.
It’s not always where you’d expect
When we think about water coolers, it’s easy to picture the familiar office setting. A dispenser in a staff kitchen or break area, ready for someone to fill a glass or water bottle between meetings.
But water dispensers turn up in plenty of places that don’t look much like a traditional workplace.
Take a theatre. During a long production, there’s a lot happening away from the stage. Performers, crew, technicians, front-of-house staff and other teams can all be working to different schedules, often for hours at a time.
A hotel has its own rhythm. Guest areas, staff spaces, kitchens, conference rooms and event facilities can all be in use at once, particularly when a large conference or function is taking place.
Then there’s a university campus, where ‘the workplace’ can stretch across lecture theatres, libraries, laboratories, sports facilities, offices and student areas.
The setting changes. The need doesn’t.
Busy places have busy water requirements
Some environments are busy all day. Others become busy at particular times.
A retailer might see a sharp increase in activity over a weekend. A construction site can change considerably as a project progresses, with different crews and contractors arriving and leaving. A medical facility may operate around the clock, with staff working shifts rather than a conventional nine-to-five day.
Even within the same building, different areas can have completely different patterns of use.
That means there isn’t necessarily one obvious place for a water cooler, or one type of water dispenser that suits every situation.
A busy reception area has different requirements from a staff room. A temporary worksite has different requirements from a permanent office. A conference venue preparing for an event may need additional drinking water provision for a particular period rather than indefinitely.
Sometimes it’s the environment that dictates the solution.
And then there’s everything happening around it
People don’t visit a water cooler because the water cooler is the main event.
They’re there because they’re about to go into a meeting. They’re heading back to work. They’re taking a break between performances. They’re preparing a room for a conference. They’re starting another shift. They’re moving between buildings.
The water is simply one of the practical things that needs to be available while all of that is happening.
Which is why location, capacity and the type of water dispenser can become important considerations, particularly in larger or more complex environments.
One need. Lots of settings.
The setting may change, but the need for an easily accessible hydration station remains. What that looks like can vary from a bottled water cooler or mains-fed dispensers to additional provision for a temporary event, project or change in demand.
Because it’s rarely the water cooler itself that’s the focus. It’s what is happening around it, and making sure drinking water is available as part of everything else that needs to work.
Wherever people are working, meeting, performing, studying, building or caring, drinking water is simply one more practical requirement that needs to be considered.
