So, you’ve been tasked with preventing the spread of harmful germs in your office and don’t know where to begin. Well, you’ve come to the right place. From the doors we touch, to the bathrooms we use, and even computers we type on, nearly everything in the workplace can be considered a health hazard these days. The best germ-free solutions are not always obvious, but when it comes to your office water supplies, the answer is clear: A bottleless water cooler (also known as bottle-free water cooler) is cleaner and safer than a bottled water delivery service. Here’s why:
1. Fewer people handle your water supplies.
Worker injuries are most frequently the result of handling materials like a 42-pound water jug. Sprains and strains are among the top 5 most common workplace injuries, counting for 30% of all workers compensation claims. Employees who have to replace heavy water jugs risk hurting their backs, legs, arms, and feet.
The act of changing out a 5-gallon water jug is not only physically taxing, but it can also pose a health risk. Think about all the hands required to remove and replace water jugs every week. And if you think replacing a 5-gallon water jug with pallets of single-use bottles will keep the germs at bay, think again. A bottled water delivery service requires delivery service personnel to regularly travel in and out of multiple buildings a day, and handle water bottles that your employees will eventually handle. In addition, bottles from a bottled water delivery service are likely to be stored in highly trafficked office refrigerators that are touched by people all day.
Instead, invest in a bottleless water cooler to reduce the spread of germs. A point of use water cooler hooks right to your building’s municipal water supply and filters your water on-site. That means you don’t have to put yourself or your employees in harm’s way every time you need to replenish your water. You just set it up once and the machine takes care of the rest, dispensing delicious filtered water without the need for someone to come in and constantly restock.
2. More opportunity to implement a neighborhood office layout.
There is a new office trend called neighborhooding, which Globest calls “the next big thing in office space.” The concept of neighborhooding originated well before the global health crisis. It’s a kind of office layout that organizes employees into groups based on who needs to work together each day. Neighborhoods have been known to boost creativity, collaboration, and productivity. Moreover, it organically isolates employees into small groups, which also happens to be an effective way to reduce the spread of germs in the office. Splitting your office into neighborhoods reduces employee interactions within your building, and decreases the handling of common touchpoints like copiers, desks, and doors.
Now add more bottle-free water cooler to this equation. Just like all other office amenities in the neighborhood setup, when you assign a bottle-free water cooler to each individual neighborhood in your office, fewer people use the machine, further mitigating the risk of contagion. If adding more bottle-free water coolers to accommodate the neighborhood layout sounds out of your price range, consider this: A single bottle-free water cooler that serves 50 employees costs a company around $700 a year on average. A bottled water delivery service that serves 50 people, on the other hand, cost a company over $4,200 a year on average. Therefore, even if you add five new bottle-free coolers to your workplace, it’s still going to be less expensive than a bottled water delivery service.
3. Fewer people come in and out of the office.
New office visitors pose an additional threat to your workforce. The best way to prevent illness is to limit guests, which is difficult to do when you rely on a bottled water delivery service to continuously restock your water supplies week after week. As we mentioned above, a point-of-use water cooler doesn’t require refilling since it hooks up to your building’s existing water supply. That means you can avoid delivery visits altogether.
If you want to invite extra sparkle and flavor into your workplace without inviting potentially harmful germs, an Elkay Smartwell is the way to go. This unique still and sparkling water dispenser provides your employees with on-demand flavored water, which means you never have to call on a technician to come into your office and replace the flavors for you. Replacement flavors are automatically shipped to your door every month. Flavors and enhancements come in eco-friendly pouches that are easy to install. So, when the office starts to run low on popular flavors, you can quickly replace it yourself.
4. A bottleless water cooler is cleaner.
It’s likely that your building’s 5-gallon water jug dispenser has been sitting in your company’s break room for years with limited cleaning, making it prone to bacterial organisms. Every time an employee or customer dispenses water from the machine, they are introducing their bodies to micro-organisms and biofilm. With bottleless water dispensers, the water is stored in a stainless-steel tank and can have advanced filtration and sanitization technologies that remove sediment, reduce chemical contaminants, as well as keep the outside (user interface) of the machine germ-free.
5. Bottleless water coolers can be touchless.
The other awesome perk of having a bottleless water cooler is that you can choose to go totally touchless. From foot pedals to sensorSAFE technology, touchless phone apps, and rugged paddles, your guests and employees can enjoy the delicious taste of Quench water without risking contamination. Your typical 5-gallon water jug dispenser can’t offer those hands-free bonuses. If you’re ready to opt for a touchless machine for your office, contact our Quench customer care team.
6. Bottleless water coolers have enhancements to help boost immunity.
The best water coolers offer added enhancements in addition to advance filtration. Take the Quench Q7 and Q5 Series for instance. Both those machines dispense a brand of water called quenchWATER+, which adds minerals, electrolytes, and alkalinity to your office H2O. Electrolyte drinking water is specifically designed to improve hydration and other bodily functions by having optimal concentrations of only the most beneficial electrolytes. One recent study even found that staying hydrated may boost an immune response to enable your body to better fight the viruses.[4]
You can even take your efforts to keep your employees healthy a step further by giving them the option to add Vitamin C to their water. Vitamin C is involved in many parts of the immune system. It helps encourage the production of white blood cells, which help protect the body against infection. There is an option to add Vitamin C to your building’s water source when you choose the Elkay Smartwell. With the Smartwell, you can navigate an intuitive touchscreen interface (or your Smartwell smartphone app) to create endless combinations of delicious beverages. End-users can personalize their pours with options for still or sparkling, flavor selection and strength, and added water enhancements, including Vitamin C.
Go Bottle-Free With a Bottleless Water Cooler from Quench
With offices ramping up safety measures, there’s never been a better time to go bottle-free. Quench Water Experts understand that water is a huge part of staying healthy, which is why we work tirelessly every day to ensure you, your guests, and your employees are able to access filtered drinking water without risking your health and wellbeing.
We’ve even made it easy to get your office water cooler back in business. Download Quench machine sanitization instructions for a step-by-step guide on how to easily clean your bottleless water cooler to provide refreshing, healthy Quench water. And click this link to access Quench’s Office Cleaning Guide to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19.
At Quench, the health of your employees, customers, and guests is our top priority. Provide the entire office with clean, safe drinking water to keep spirits high and bodies hydrated.
