People often talk about “water cooler gossip”, an image that formed part of mainstream media culture in the late part of the 20th Century – I have no doubt this is where bottled water coolers became popular, and as of 2011, there are estimated to be over 400,000 bottled water coolers in the UK alone using up an estimated 300 million litres of water each year.1
A clear healthy living message for all of us from the youngest to the oldest is to drink a sufficient amount of water every day and the last 12 years have seen a significant growth and having clean drinking water, readily available in just a few metres walk, is something that we now take for granted.
On the back of this, the assumption is being made that because water is good for us, the water from water coolers is safe.
Unfortunately this may not always be the case.
Back in 2007, Consumer Focus Scotland undertook a report and published some very startling discoveries. Of a random testing of 35 samples taken from bottled water coolers for microbiological examination, a staggering 40% failed to meet standards set for water purity by the European Drinking Water Directive.2
Horrifyingly enough, one sample even gave a positive enumeration of E. faecalis. This indicates contamination from a faecal source, possibly due to cross-contamination from a user with poor personal hygiene.
Inherently, bottled water coolers are designed to be unhygienic.
Think about it.
· A leisure centre user fills up their empty bottle using the water cooler, with the neck of the bottle touching the tap – saliva, bacteria, germs and who knows what else are coming into contact with the tap.
· An office worker does not wash his hands after using the toilet and decides to get a drink, by touching the tap he is contaminating the cooler.
I am often asked to source and implement water solutions, and there are some fantastic alternatives to bottled water coolers on the market now. In fact, I have declared to never sell a bottled water cooler again.
For those of you that cannot currently move away from bottled coolers, general best-practice advice and something I pass onto all my clients with water coolers on premises is they should ensure that;
1. The exterior of the coolers, including the dispensing taps, are cleaned at least once a week;
2. Bottled water coolers are cleaned internally every three months;
3. POU water coolers have their filters changed every six months;
4. Water cooler users are made aware of their responsibility to use units hygienically, possibly using pictorial advice on or near the coolers themselves.
Over the next 5 years, “bag in box” and like-for-like systems will experience a huge growth in popularity. Could this decade spell the end for bottled water coolers in the UK?
For our health's sake, I sincerely hope so.
Regards,
David Cocozza
Footnotes
1 – Source: BWCA Conference 2011
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