by Fern Shaw | Sep 28, 2026 | water cooler, Water Coolers
How many hours are spent looking at a screen during the average day?
Between computers, phones, tablets and the other screens that have become part of everyday life, our eyes get very little time off. By the end of a busy day, tired, dry or irritated eyes can be a familiar feeling.
With World Sight Day taking place in October, it’s a good opportunity to look at something we don’t always associate with eye health: hydration.
Our Eyes Need Water Too
Our eyes rely on a thin layer of tears to stay lubricated and comfortable. Tears do more than simply keep the surface of the eye wet. They also help protect the eyes and provide a smooth surface for clear vision.
Drinking enough water supports the body’s normal fluid balance, including the fluids involved in keeping the eyes comfortable. When we’re not drinking enough, we may notice signs of dehydration elsewhere too, such as tiredness, headaches or a dry mouth.
And then there’s screen time.
Eyes and Screens
When we’re concentrating on a computer screen or phone, we tend to blink less frequently. That can mean the tear film on the surface of the eye evaporates more quickly, leaving eyes feeling dry, tired or irritated.
It’s not necessarily the screen itself that’s the problem. It’s often the way we use it.
Taking regular breaks, remembering to blink and adjusting screen position and lighting can all help reduce the strain that comes with prolonged screen use. And, of course, keeping a glass or bottled water within easy reach is a useful reminder to drink regularly too.
Don’t Forget the Water
It’s surprisingly easy to become absorbed in a busy working day and realise several hours have passed without a proper drink.
Having drinking water readily available makes regular hydration easier to maintain. A water cooler in a communal area, for example, provides an obvious opportunity to pause, refill and step away from the screen for a moment.
That short break can do more than top up your water. Looking away from the screen gives your eyes a chance to rest too.
As we explored in our Brain Health feature, hydration can support concentration and mental alertness as well. So, a quick water break can be a useful reset for more than just your eyes.
A few habits that can make a difference:
- Having water readily available makes it easier to drink throughout the day.
- If you’re working at a screen for prolonged periods, give your eyes regular breaks. The 20-20-20 approach – looking at something around 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes – is one commonly recommended way to do this.
- It sounds obvious, but concentrated screen use can reduce how often we blink. Making a conscious effort to blink regularly can help keep the eyes lubricated.
- Regular eye examinations can identify changes in vision and other eye problems, sometimes before you notice any symptoms yourself.
Our eyes work hard from morning to night, particularly when much of the day is spent reading, concentrating and looking at screens.
Staying hydrated won’t solve every cause of tired or dry eyes, but it’s a pretty simple part of looking after your general health and supporting your body’s normal functions.
And sometimes, stepping away from the screen for a glass of water is exactly the break your eyes – and the rest of you – needs.
by Fern Shaw | Sep 23, 2026 | water cooler, water dispenser
It’s 8:15 on a Monday morning.
The building is only just waking up. Coats are off, sleeves rolled up and desktops are powering up.
Someone stops at the water cooler on the way in. A quick drink of water and they’re off.
By 9:30, the building is filling up and the water cooler has a steady stream of visitors. Someone fills a bottle before a meeting or replenishes their water glass.
Another day at work but these everyday scenes show how easily the role of a water cooler can go unnoticed.
11:00 – Meeting break
A meeting finishes and several people need a drink at once. Bottles are filled, glasses topped up and someone pauses for a quick chat before heading back to their desk.
It’s an ordinary part of the working day but the demand isn’t always quite so ordinary. In a larger organisation, hundreds of people might use water dispensers across different floors, departments or buildings. Where they are positioned and what type of dispenser is used can become more important as the scale increases.
12:30 – Lunch
People are coming and going from kitchens, canteens and break areas. Some are filling bottles before heading out. Others are simply stopping for a drink.
Perhaps this is where the water cooler gets overlooked. It just needs to be there when people need it.
2:00 – Visitors arrive
Visitors arrive for meetings. Contractors are on site. Someone from another branch has travelled in for the afternoon.
The workplace is no longer just serving its own staff. The people using the building have changed, even if the building itself hasn’t.
Reception, meeting rooms and staff areas all have different patterns of use.
An experienced water dispenser supplier can help identify what fits each setting and the organisation as a whole.
3:30 – On the move again
Someone fills their water bottle before heading across to another building.
Perhaps there’s another office on the other side of the site, a university campus or a temporary worksite.
The water cooler might stay put but the people using it don’t.
5:00 – The building empties
The phones are quieter. Desktops power down, monitors switch off and desks are tidied as people leave.
The last few water top-ups are done ahead of the commute home and the building settles for the evening.
The water cooler space/time continuum
A workplace isn’t always one building with one set of requirements. A university might have lecture theatres, libraries and sports facilities. A hotel has guest and conference areas. Medical, retail and construction settings have their own demands.
The same basic need is there but the circumstances around it can be vastly different.
But somewhere in the middle of all that activity, there’s usually a water cooler having a busy day. And tomorrow morning, at 8:15, it’ll be ready to do it all again.
by Fern Shaw | Sep 9, 2026 | water cooler, Water Coolers
What do a water cooler, a tractor and a wheatsheaf have in common? More than you might think.
We all know that staying hydrated during the working day is important, whether you’re refilling a glass at the water cooler between meetings or simply keeping a bottle of water to drink on your desk. But while we’re taking a sip, it’s worth thinking about where another everyday essential comes from: our food.
That’s where Back British Farming Day comes in.
From field to fork
It’s an opportunity to recognise the farmers and growers who produce the food we rely on every day and the enormous amount of work that goes into getting it from the field to our plates.
British farming is about much more than growing crops and raising livestock. Farmers also play a major role in looking after the countryside, with agriculture managing around 71% of the UK’s land.
And there’s plenty of variety in what’s produced here. In fact, the UK is home to more than 700 different types of cheese. So that humble cheese sandwich at lunchtime suddenly has a rather impressive story behind it.
Spot the red tractor
You may have seen the Red Tractor logo on food packaging. It’s one of the familiar signs consumers can look for when buying British produce, providing assurance that food meets recognised standards for safety, traceability and production.
Then there’s the wheatsheaf pin badge, traditionally worn during Back British Farming Day to show support for British agriculture.
Both have become familiar symbols of a much bigger story: the people, land and hard work behind the food we eat.
And if you need another reason to appreciate the humble wheat field, consider this: an area of wheat roughly the size of a football pitch can produce enough grain for around 11,500 loaves of bread.
Not bad for a field!
A little closer to home
Back British Farming Day is a useful reminder that the food on our supermarket shelves doesn’t simply appear there. Behind it are farmers, growers and rural communities working throughout the year, whatever the weather.
So next time you fill your glass, grab a sandwich or sit down for lunch, spare a thought for the journey that food has taken to get there.
From field to the fork, there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than we might realise.
Sources
National Farmers’ Union (NFU)
Red Tractor
by Fern Shaw | Sep 8, 2026 | water cooler, Water Coolers, water dispenser
We’ve all done it. There’s a job that needs doing, but suddenly the washing needs sorting, the kitchen needs cleaning or that email you’ve been avoiding for three days becomes really important.
Welcome to procrastination – putting off something you don’t particularly want to do and promising yourself you’ll get round to it later.
It’s hardly a new habit. The ancient philosophers apparently had plenty to say about procrastination and the word itself appeared in the Oxford dictionary way back in 1548. So, in fairness, we’ve had an extraordinarily long time to get better at it. We just haven’t quite got round to it yet.
How do we stop putting things off?
One useful trick is to make the task feel less daunting. If you’re looking at a mountain of jobs, break it down into smaller steps and tackle them one at a time. Knowing where to start can be half the battle.
And before you reach for another coffee, there’s something else worth considering: water.
Staying hydrated is important for normal brain function and research has found that dehydration can affect aspects of cognitive performance. In one study, drinking water after dehydration improved performance on judgement and decision-making tasks. (PubMed)
Could your water cooler be an unlikely ally in the fight against procrastination?
Possibly. Keeping water to hand and drinking regularly can help you stay hydrated, which may help you think more clearly and avoid that foggy-headed feeling. And when your brain is feeling sharper, tackling that awkward email, making a decision or finally starting that job you’ve been putting off might seem a little easier.
Of course, no amount of water is going to make tidying the garage exciting. But it might help you decide that now is the time to get started.
So, whether it’s on Fight Procrastination Day itself or before or after, fill your glass at the water dispenser, pick one thing you’ve been putting off and get it done.
You can always procrastinate tomorrow.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 24, 2026 | water cooler, Water Coolers, water dispenser
It sounds counterintuitive. You’re hot, the sun is beating down and someone hands you a piping hot cup of tea. Surely the last thing you need is more heat?
Well … perhaps not.
There’s some science behind the idea that a hot drink can help cool you down. When you drink something hot, your body can respond by increasing the amount you sweat. And when that sweat evaporates from your skin, it takes heat with it, helping to cool you down.
But there’s a rather important catch. Sweat needs somewhere to go.
For this cooling effect to work, your sweat needs to evaporate. In hot, dry conditions, that can happen efficiently, potentially making a hot drink surprisingly effective at helping your body lose heat.
In hot and humid conditions, however, evaporation becomes much harder. If sweat is simply sitting on your skin or dripping away, drinking something hot isn’t going to provide the same cooling benefit – and the heat from the drink is still being added to your body.
So, what about an ice-cold glass of water?
Research suggests that cold drinks can reduce the rise in core body temperature during activity in hot conditions and can make you feel cooler too. (PubMed)
And what about room-temperature water?
There’s no magic temperature you have to drink your water at. Ambient-temperature drinks can be perfectly effective for hydration and have been shown to be consumed at similar rates to chilled water by people working in hot conditions. (PubMed)
In other words, the best drink may simply be the one you enjoy drinking and will reach for regularly.
So, hot tea on a hot day? It’s not quite as crazy as it sounds. Chilled water? Absolutely fine too. Room-temperature water? Nothing wrong with that either.
And with AquAid’s high-quality hot & cold water dispensers, there’s no need to choose just one. Whether you fancy piping hot water for a cuppa or chilled water to refresh you, the choice is yours.
Now that’s what we call an all-weather water dispenser.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 19, 2026 | instant tap, water boiler, water cooler, Water Coolers
Let’s fact check here for a moment. This is a blog page. The running (aha) theme is about all things water.
There are heaps of information about the supply of water and how we deliver said water to you, dear, valued customer, through the provision of our spankingly smart range of:
Bottled Water Coolers
Mains Fed Water Coolers
Water Boilers
Hotel and Catering Solutions
Water for Schools
Water Fountains
Instant Taps
It also helps to keep ourselves informed about the importance of drinking water, how to avoid becoming dehydrated (which occurs more often and easily than one might think), what to drink and how often to drink it. In general, it’s all about keeping yourself healthily hydrated.
But the one question we may not have yet asked is: What makes you thirsty?
Is it the popcorn?
You may belong to the heavily salted popcorn clan. When you go to the pictures, it’s not officially an occasion unless you have a bucket of very over-salted popcorn. Then your tongue swells up and you feel like you’ve been eating dry desert sand. At which point, you may wonder why on earth you’re so thirsty.
Hmm. Mystery solved.
Is it the fizzy stuff?
Perhaps you’re more of a spend all day in warm weather, keep active, run from place to place, perspire like mad and wait until the last possible moment before having a drink sort of person.
By the time you’re absolutely parched, you reach for a fizzy drink and guzzle it down. Unfortunately, a sugary drink isn’t necessarily the answer to your thirst and you may soon find yourself reaching for another one.
Is it the takeaway?
Or maybe fast food is the culprit. Chips, kebabs, sausage rolls (to name a few) leading to the inevitable:
“Why am I so thirsty?”
It turns out that might not be quite the mystery you thought it was.
So, what’s your thirst tipping point?
Whatever yours is, it’s worth remembering that some of our thirst can be self-imposed.
Us humanoids. We can be rather silly beings, can’t we?
Perhaps the answer is simply to drink water regularly throughout the day rather than waiting until your mouth feels like the Sahara. Your mind, body and soul will thank you for it.
