Why is Water Cooler Servicing so important?
It’s vital to keep up with your water cooler servicing, why not offer a fresh alternative to drinking tea and coffee and enhance the productivity of your workforce. Is your water cooler clean enough to drink from?
A water cooler in the workplace can offer a great source of refreshment, especially in the summer but without six monthly servicing, they can become a breeding ground for bacteria to grow.
The Water Cooler & Hydration Association
The Water Cooler & Hydration association (WHA) are a recognised trade body for the U.K. water cooler industry. If you are looking for any type of water cooler servicing, choosing one of it’s members is a great place to start.
Bottled Water Cooler Servicing & Maintenance explained
According to the WHA bottled water coolers should be sanitised every 13 weeks. This means that every part of the water cooler which comes into contact with the water should be cleaned thoroughly. These water cooler parts include the spike (the part which pierces the bottle), the reservoir, the feed pipes, the taps and the drip tray.
It’s essential to make sure that you’re bottled water cooler is serviced at the correct intervals as this manages the bacteria levels inside the chiller. There may also be air filter to change too. The Thirst Alternative can offer bottled water cooler servicing across the whole of the U.K. We’ll simply need the make and model of your water cooler and you can let one of our WHA qualified service engineers do the rest.
And what about Mains Fed?
According to the WHA, your mains fed water cooler servicing and maintenance should be completed every 26 weeks. Whether your mains fed water cooler is gravity fed, pressure fed, direct chill or ice bank, the servicing interval recommended by the WHA remains exactly the same. This is a two stage process; Firstly to control bacteria levels inside the chiller unit itself and secondly, to sanitise it’s external parts such as the drip tray, outer panels and dispense heads. You must always ensure that your supplier also replaces the water filter on each sanitisation visit too. A fresh filter not only helps control bacteria growth but should improve the flow of filtered water from your machine too.
Should you require any advice or have any quick questions about cleaning your water coolers, please feel free to contact us on 01925 235 140
Who is ultimately responsible for any plumbing work carried out on when fitting mains fed water coolers into my workplace?
You might be surprised by this answer – but it’s actually you, the employer or business owner. This is why it is so imperative to get this initial step right first time. The water supply in your building, and it doesn’t matter if you own or rent it, falls under specific legislation that you, the business owner or facilities manager must adhere to. This is because, effectively, the public (your staff) are drinking from it.
What are the steps for installing a mains-fed water cooler?
Mains fed water coolers are different than bottled water coolers because they take their water feed from your mains water supply. Anyone installing a mains fed water cooler for designated public use by law has to follow the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016. This includes but is not limited to informing the local water authority of the proposed works and making sure that the installation can be accessed for subsequent inspection. This legislation is designed to protect the public water supply from misuse and sub-standard plumbing work which may harm users. Many, but not all mains fed water cooler companies have invested heavily to make sure that all the plumbers that they employ are “WIAPS Approved”, thus negating the need for you to contact the local water board prior to installation. “WIAPS” stand for Water Industry Approved Plumbers Scheme and you should ask for certifications of approval before any work commences.
How do I know if my water cooler is installed correctly?
You must follow the guidelines in the legislation set out above to ensure that your water cooler has been correctly installed. Researching the guidelines, for most people can be far too time consuming which is why the best option is to use a WIAPS Plumber. If your new equipment has been fitted by a WIAPS Approved Plumber, then prior consent isn’t necessary because you’ll be given a WIAPS Certificate to prove that your unit/s have been correctly fitted.
Can I install a water cooler myself or should I hire a professional?
There isn’t a law in the U.K which states that you cannot install your new water cooler. If you can follow the guidelines correctly and meet all of the requirements then, yes, you can fit a water cooler yourself. There is no specific law in the U.K which forbids this. You must however, inform the water board before any work is carried out as they will reserve the right to inspect it.
How often should I service my water cooler?
If your water coolers is mains fed, then according to the WHA (Water Cooler & Hydration Association) 6 monthly servicing is recommended as a minimum. The WHA are the only recognised body in the U.K to which most U.K based water cooler companies are members. You are not legally required to use a WHA member, but The Thirst Alternative would highly recommend using one.
Is there a warranty for water cooler installation services?
The cooler itself generally comes with a 12 month warranty. Often the manufacturers extend this warranty to cover the compressor for a further 24 months. You only need to be concerned about warranties though if you’ve decided to purchase your equipment outright. If they’re being taken out on a rental, then repairs, replacements etc should be provided free of charge by your supplier.
How much does it cost to install a water cooler?
This essentially depends upon whether you are choosing to rent your machines, if so the installation is normally free of change, although you could be charged if there’s quite a lot more work involved. For units purchased outright, you would generally be required to pay for instalallation. A water cooler installed right next to the sink in the works kitchen is much cheaper to install than one where a feed needs to taken from under the the kitchen sink and directed over the ceiling tiles and into the main office. The first step is to ask your new supplier for a site survey and subsequent quotation.
Where can I find a reliable water cooler service provider?
There are many ways to find a reputable supplier, but the first step would be to visit the Water Cooler & Hydration Association website. There you will find a list of suppliers by using the postcode search option. Once you have found a potential supplier, you should compare reviews on sites like google. Once you have a couple of potential suppliers narrowed down, you should then ask for one of their staff to visit you at your workplace and don’t forget to ask for copies of all the neccesary documentation that you are likely to require prior to making any commitment.