If you currently use a bottled water dispenser to provide your workplace with drinking water, you might be overlooking the true costs of this practice. Bottled water delivery has been a sufficient way to promote hydration over the years, but there’s more to this routine than meets the eye. This can be costly for multiple reasons, which means it might be time to consider a better alternative.
Read on to learn more about the true and hidden costs of bottled water dispensers and why you might consider switching to an alternate drinking water option.
Bottled Water Delivery
Before advanced solutions for procuring workplace drinking water were available, traditional bottled water delivery reigned supreme. For the companies who continue to utilize this system, it typically involves a 3- or 5-gallon water jug being brought directly to your workplace by a delivery truck on a monthly or as-needed basis. Keep in mind, the frequency of delivery changes depending on the nature and size of your business.
Traditional recurring delivery was thought to be the most cost-effective and adequate way to provide your business with high-quality water. However, over the years it’s become clear that this isn’t exactly the case. Before employing a bottled water delivery service to obtain drinking water for your workplace, organizations should consider the true cost and trouble that accompanies this option.
Considering the Costs of Bottled Water Delivery
Bottled water dispensers don’t seem significantly costly at first glance, but the culmination of both real expenses and environmental costs make this option considerably less appealing. So, what exactly are the costs associated with a bottled water cooler?
Monthly expenses
The main cost you’re likely to think of when considering different water options is your monthly spending. The typical price per 5-gallon water jug is approximately $7. This cost may not seem steep initially, but in culmination with consistent delivery throughout the year, these expenses quickly add up.
In fact, a Quench study found that a bottled water delivery service that serves 50 people costs over $4,200 a year on average, and a 5-gallon water delivery service that serves the same amount of people costs over $3,400 annually. Consider how many workers and customers are at your workplace, and it’s relatively easy to see how this system can run up your finances quickly and significantly.
Moreover, according to the Water Purification Guide, nearly 64% of bottled water in the U.S. comes from municipal tap water sources. This means your business might be paying for water that could be otherwise free if you were to get it from your tap. While bottled water companies collect and treat the water before bottling, they don’t have to meet the same strenuous standards of water quality as water treatment facilities — set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Unfortunately, this means the clean water you’ve come to know, might not be as clean as you once thought.
Environmental costs
The most important hidden cost of bottled water delivery is its detrimental environmental impact. The use of large plastic bottles leads to environmental ramifications including:
- Plastic waste: Both small and large plastic bottles are hugely wasteful, considering humans use 1.3 billion plastic bottles every day, and they take an extremely long time to decompose, per an article from Reuters.
- CO2 emissions: The culmination of plastic production and delivery truck needs also leads to incredibly high CO2 emissions. Essentially, plastic results in greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of its life cycle, and customers who depend on regular delivery are responsible for the higher carbon emissions from these trucks.
- Large oil use: Businesses that depend on delivery may also be unaware of the large amount of oil needed to meet the demand of U.S. water bottle manufacturing.
- Water waste: Another environmental impact to consider includes the water it wastes throughout the production process. According to the Water Project, it’s estimated that 3 liters of water are used to package 1 liter of bottled water.
The Future of Water Delivery
With all of these costs in mind, it might be beneficial to consider an alternative. If you’ve been looking for a more cost-effective and efficient way to provide your workplace with drinking water, you might be wondering what the future of water dispensers looks like.
Today, you have access to bottleless water coolers from reliable vendors, like Quench, that are installed in your workplace and offer an endless supply of filtered, clean water whenever it’s needed. These installation systems include a reverse osmosis water filter that adds back minerals and electrolytes — so your business has access to clean and delicious water year-round. Not only can this help you avoid the hassle of monthly bottled water delivery, but you can also quickly decrease your yearly expenses and reduce your environmental footprint.
Alleviate the Costs of Bottled Water With Help From Quench
If you’re ready to leave traditional bottled water delivery and its associated costs in the past for a better system, Quench can help. With Quench, you can explore a wide array of bottleless water coolers that can provide your employees and customers with the highest-quality water around — without the hassle or costs of plastic jugs. In fact, customers can save up to 80% on beverage expenses when they switch from bottled water to bottleless water coolers.
But don’t just take our word for it, Deb W. of Philadelphia said she’s saving “over $1,200 a year” after switching from prior water service to Quench. Special Projects Manager Nick Williams also reports that at his company “between the Quench bottleless water system, [they’re] saving upwards of $1,000 a month.” You can see exactly how much your company can save on your drinking water bill by checking out our total cost of ownership calculator.
If you’re ready for a more efficient and cost-effective system to access high-quality drinking water in your workplace, try our product finder and get matched with the machine that’s right for your business. Or, get a free quote to get started.
