Workplaces are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of employees drinking more water and are providing water in the workplace. Traditionally this has been done with the bottled water cooler, but with greater awareness of the carbon footprint and H&S legislation, then there is a better way............................ the mains fed or point of use (POU) water cooler.
There are three main factors to consider: the environmental, the financial and health & safety implications.
Consider the carbon footprint of a bottle of water and the amount of energy used to -
Remember, it`s just not the bottle you have to recycle, the plastic cap also requires to be recycled. This is usually made up of 3 different plastic components, and then glue is used to join it, these items all have to be separated before 100% recycling can commence.
Link to Carbon Foot print calculator here
None of this applies to a mains fed water cooler.
Financial
The financial savings will vary according to where you obtain your bottled water and how much you use as different companies have different tariffs. Why not try out our cost comparison calculator? Just click on the box below.
Link to cost comparison calculator here
One thing is certain, bottle production is directly linked with the oil industry, as this product is required for both plastics and for the fuel and trucks to deliver the end product, given the rocketing prices of oil then the likelihood is that the prices won't be coming down for some time.
Plastic water bottles on average hold 18.9 litres of water. The cost of that of water from a metered supply is less than 1p. Bottled water will never be that cheap!
Not only do you have to consider the actual cost of the water, but the hidden costs of the space needed to store both full and empty bottles, and the staff time to change the bottle when it is empty.
That cost isn't associated with a mains fed water cooler
Health & Safety
18.9 litres of water weighs 18.9 Kgs. Are your employees expected to move that from the storage area to the water cooler, pick it up, turn it upside down and put it on the water cooler. This needs training in the correct way to manually handle the goods and also needs a manual handling risk assessment in order to comply with the Manual Handling Regulations 1992.
The Regulations establish the following clear hierarchy of control measures:
1. Avoid hazardous manual handling operations so far as is reasonably practicable, for example by redesigning the task to avoid moving the load or by automating or mechanising the process.
2. Make a suitable and sufficient assessment of any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided.
3. Reduce the risk of injury from those operations so far as is reasonably practicable. Where possible, you should provide mechanical assistance, for example a sack trolley or hoist. Where this is not reasonably practicable, look at ways of changing the task, the load and working environment.
Remember, if you fail to provide a suitable and sufficient risk assessment or expose your employees to unnecessary risk then you could be prosecuted, even if an accident doesn`t occur! If an employee is injured whilst at work then this increases the potential for a personal injury compensation claim to be submitted.
You will mitigate yourself and your company by switching to a mains fed cooler as this removes any risk present.
How can you benefit from our service?
We will provide and install a mains fed water cooler(s). The coolers will be fitted with a water block to limit the flow of water in the unlikely event of a leak, and with a filter to remove any chlorine taste from the water.
Should the cooler fail in normal use we will repair or replace at no cost to you (unless the failure is caused by physical damage to the cooler), we will do this within 48 hours of our office receiving your call.
We will sanitise the cooler 4 times per annum and change the filter in accordance with the industry regulations in force at the present time, this is currently every six months.
What others are saying Evening Standard 7th December 2007
Although coolers have become a traditional place for office workers to exchange the latest gossip, a London council has deemed them - and bottled water - environmentally unfriendly and is insisting that staff switch to the tap variety instead.
Islington council believes it will save more than £8,000 a year on bottled water and thousands more on coolers after it agreed to stop paying for them.
The council, which says the move will reduce its carbon footprint, is now calling on the Greater London Authority and other London boroughs to follow suit.
The ban was approved this week after being proposed by Liberal Democrat council leader James Kempton.
He said: "What sense does it make to have water shipped around the world to use in bottles when we can just turn on the tap?
"London's tap water is good, so to me bottled water is a mystery. It's also a matter of the environmental damage caused by the transportation of bottled water, not to mention the production and disposal of the bottles.
"I'm proud that Islington is the greenest place in London and I'm calling on other councils and the Mayor to ensure that bottled water is not used in public buildings in the city." Water coolers have been criticised for the energy required to run them and the delivery of refills by road.
Mr Kempton hopes that restaurants and businesses will consider providing only tap water for diners and staff.
Westminster council also plans to get rid of water coolers by replacing them with chilled tap water at its Victoria headquarters within the next year.
Camden council is replacing water cooler in all its buildings with mains water filters.
A Kensington and Chelsea spokesman said: "The council has provided mains drinking water facilities for nearly all staff for many years. Only the water dispensed is cooled and the plastic cups provided are fully recyclable."
Jenny Bates of Friends of the Earth welcomed the moves, saying: "Transporting bottled water across the world increases carbon emissions and is also a staggering waste of resources."
