Guest blog: AquAid and MRS Training & Rescue

Guest blog: AquAid and MRS Training & Rescue

by | Jul 23, 2018 | water cooler, Water Coolers

At AquAid, we’ve been in the business of water provision for over 20 years, supplying a broad range of high quality water coolers and drinking water to customers throughout the UK.

We value our customers as we understand that they are the backbone to our business, enabling us to grow from our humble beginnings in 1998 to now, one of the UK’s largest water cooler suppliers.

Just as important to us, and an integral part of our business ethos since we began, is our commitment to helping those in need.  In this manner AquAid have, to date, donated more than £12 million and have helped more than 5 million people.

Another organisation, and a valued customer, committed to helping people in need is MRS Training & Rescue.

About MRS Training & Rescue

For over 100 years, MRS Training & Rescue (formerly known as Mines Rescue Service), has developed specialist skills, experience and knowledge gained from working in difficult and potentially dangerous environments, to effect the rescue and escape of mine workers from underground.

However, given the gradual decline of the coal mines over many years, they have been able to expand and diversify to meet the needs of today’s health and safety market. MRS Training & Rescue have been able to secure long term success by leveraging their expertise, and have branched out from underground mining into providing unique rescue services, specialist equipment, consultancy and a comprehensive range of accredited health and safety related products, training and services to a wide range of industries, including nuclear, aerospace, manufacturing and utilities.

MRS Training & Rescue and the Elephant Pump

In order to keep the MRS Training & Rescue team healthy and hydrated while at work, they decided to invest in water coolers from AquAid at their sites at Mansfield, Swadlincote and Knottingley.  With each water cooler and bottle of water purchased a donation has been made to the Africa Trust, an AquAid funded charity.

This means that thanks to MRS Training & Rescue’s custom, a water well (affectionately known as an Elephant Pump) will be installed in Africa and will provide safe, clean drinking water for hundreds of people in a community.

AquAid and the Africa Trust – Twenty and Eighteen

AquAid and the Africa Trust – Twenty and Eighteen

by | Jun 4, 2018 | Africa Trust, aquaid, Charity, Water Coolers

Begun in 2010, the Africa Trust is an AquAid founded charity that works on the principles of wealth creation and sustainable solutions to poverty.

Since our rather humble beginnings in 1998 as a home water cooler supplier, until now, as one of the UK’s leading water cooler suppliers, helping people in need has always been an integral aspect of the AquAid ethos.

Now, in our 20th year of operations, we look back at the annual milestones that evidence the successes of our commitment to charity.

2017 IN REVIEW:

The total number of beneficiaries at the start of 2017 was 2,192,435 and 209,908 new beneficiaries were added by the end of the year. A total of 683 new pumps were installed in 2017 compared to 607 in 2016. Most of these pumps were installed in Zimbabwe with five pumps built in Tanzania and one built in Kenya.

The Africa Trust’s Elephant Pump programme is having a major positive impact on the lives of over a million Zimbabweans who collect clean drinking water and water for productive use every day.  Aside from 683 new pumps installed last year, the Africa Trust continues to implement sustainable wealth creation projects.  Examples are an income generating farm project which now provides a sustained and growing income stream that helps towards the cost of emergency relief. A dairy project and the bananas for fees projects continue to grow with 510 new beneficiaries added.

The Africa Trust also implements wealth creation and sustainable relief projects in:

Kenya: A business skills training programme continues to grow. One such new business started under the programme (a maize mill) now employs over a dozen HIV+ widows who would otherwise have been in desperate poverty following their husbands’ deaths due to AIDS.

Liberia: Positive feedback received about the pumps and toilets installed in previous years. A school was helped to become self-sufficient by starting a project to raise ducks and chickens.

Mozambique:  The ‘Baby’ Elephant Pumps installed for use by smaller family communities are doing well.

Tanzania: Elephant Pumps; Elephant Toilets; Business Skills Training.

Uganda:  Business skills training; job creation; retirement planning (thus helping break the cycle of poverty).

Contact us at AquAid to find out how becoming an AquAid customer equates to ensuring sustainable solutions to poverty and the provision of safe drinking water to those who need it most.

Water, your organs and your health

Water, your organs and your health

by | Jun 4, 2018 | aquaid, Water, Water Coolers

I’ve been reading through my notes for the blogs for this week and it all became a little overwhelming. So I let my brain head out West and the rest of me went to top up on the java.

Then my brain knocked politely, ‘Coo-ee, I’m back’ it warbled.

‘What?’ the coffee-enjoying-rest of me replied. ‘You come up with anything useful out West?’

A lengthy discussion ensued ….

Anyhow, as it turns out, the brain told me it got to thinking about all the other lesser (according to it) but just as vital (according to all of them) organs that we humanoids are blessed with and guess what? ALL OF THEM need sufficient water to keep the g-g-greased lightning performance.

Kidney and Liver Function

One of the liver’s primary functions is to metabolise stored fat into energy. The kidneys are responsible for filtering toxins, wastes, ingested water and salts out of the bloodstream. If you are dehydrated, the kidneys cannot function properly and the liver must work overtime to compensate. As a result, it metabolises less fat, your metabolism slows down to conserve water, which leads to weight gain and can contribute to belly fat.*

The Heart

Dehydration can cause insufficient oxygenation of the tissue of the cardiovascular system. The heart rate increases in response to the tissue oxygen deficit. Tachycardia, or a heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute, occurs.  Severe dehydration can trigger irregular heart rhythms, especially in people with an underlying heart condition.*

Command Central i.e. The Brain

Brain cells require the right amount of water and minerals in each of the cells.  If there is too much water, the cell’s membrane can break; if there is not enough, the cell will shrivel up. When there is brain dehydration, less water is available for brain cells to use. *

Importance of Water

Almost two-thirds of the human body is made up of water and water acts as a natural appetite suppressant. It also helps to regulate your metabolism. When you become dehydrated, your metabolism slows down, affecting how your body burns fat. Your body mistakes thirst for hunger, which leads to increased calorie consumption. This can lead to stubborn fat gathering around your stomach, which is difficult to lose.*

Bearing all of this in mind, also remember that water weight is not the same as ‘blob’ weight, so whereas you may think that because your body is retaining water it means you’re gaining weight, this is not the case. Your body is desperately trying to tell you, by retaining water, that it doesn’t have enough to function properly.

There’s no need for concern though, indeed you can celebrate and revel in the fact that throughout the UK, clean, fresh drinking water transported from source to your office, school or site is readily available from AquAid through our range of water coolers.  Drink up!

 * sourced from an article at Livestrong

Single Use Plastics – the way forward

Single Use Plastics – the way forward

by | May 1, 2018 | aquaid, water cooler, Water Coolers

The use of plastic has had significant media attention recently, in particular following the various Blue Planet episodes aired on the BBC. The tone of the debate is highly emotive and even Theresa May recently voiced her opinion on the matter, stating that the House of Commons would ban the use of plastic cups and that the government will recommend that all large businesses do the same.

At AquAid we are keenly aware of the impact using plastic has in our industry, to our customers and on our environment.  We are constantly seeking solutions and alternatives to reduce waste, minimise our carbon footprint and increase the sustainable provision of our water and water products to our customers.

Potential long term options?

  1. Paper cups/cones

Paper cups may seem like an obvious alternative, but they are not.  As paper is porous, all cups contain a lining which means that they cannot easily be recycled.  Unfortunately, although few people may be aware of this, if you are paying to recycle paper cups, these lined cups actually contaminate the recycling batch they go into.

There are cones available without a plastic lining, but they will only hold water for a matter of seconds before it will start seeping through and land on the floor. Whilst these are useful from an environmental perspective, they are less useful from a hydration perspective, the reason organisations have a water dispenser in the first place.

Paper cups cost around 50% more than plastic, with cones priced slightly lower.

  1. Plastic bottles

There is a place for re-usable plastic bottles, however, we need to be aware that a plastic bottle weighs at least 30 times more than does a plastic cup. This then means that using plastic bottles is adding plastic weight and volume rather than reducing it. Even if you re-use a plastic bottle (which some people will re-use 30 times, but others much less so) it has to be borne in mind that the bottle needs to be cleaned which has its own environmental impact.

  1. Use bio-degradable/compostable material 

The idea of using bio-degradable plastic is very appealing at first as people picture it literally turning into dust.  The problem is that in order for the plastic to compost, it needs to be kept in very specific circumstances only achievable in an industrial composting environment. Not only are there very few such facilities in the UK, there are also no nationwide collection schemes in place for them.  If bio-degradable cups end up in landfill they can be more harmful to the environment than normal plastic cups, as is indicated in various reports and case studies from authorities in the field*.  Added to this, bio-degradable plastic is made from corn starch – which again brings with it a significant impact on the environment. As a final point, bio-degradable plastic is considerably more expensive than regular plastic.

The solution

Because of the focus directed at the issue of single use cups, we may be forgetting the difference between litter and recycling. Plastic on its own is not an issue – unrecycled plastic is. Bearing this in mind, we believe there is a viable solution, one which will be of benefit to not only ourselves and our customers, but also to our environment.

Recycling plastic cups

Upon consultation with a number of recycling authorities, in particular BIFFA, a leading integrated waste management company, we’ve established as follows:

  • The cups that AquAid supply are made of a single type of plastic. The benefit of this is that easy to recycle and a valuable resource that can be repurposed and resold.
  • Our plastic cups are easily recycled if placed in a dry mixed recycling (DMR) bin. These are bins which take cans, paper, cardboard and plastic. Not only will the material placed in a DMR be recycled, but DMR bins cheaper to have emptied than a normal waste bin.

We believe that we have established a practical, cost effective and viable solution to using our drinking cups and are inviting our customers to contact their local recycling companies to confirm that they offer the dry mixed recycling bins (DMR), to assist with the recycling of not only plastic cups, but also the many other recyclable items found in offices up and down the country.

Should you wish for any additional information about our recycling plan, kindly e-mail us at nationalaccounts@aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk 

* sources: articles in The Guardian; UN News

Instant Taps Aid Productivity

Instant Taps Aid Productivity

by | Mar 28, 2018 | aquaid, Hot Water Taps, instant tap, Water Coolers

Many studies have examined the varying effects of dehydration on performance. Apart from the obvious fact that our bodies need water to survive, all studies unequivocally prove that dehydration negatively affects mood, cognitive performance, mental recall, and therefore productivity. The law stipulates that there needs to be easily accessible drinking water at any place of work. Responsible employers provide this in the form of water coolers, water boilers or hot water taps for health and safety reasons, but an added benefit is that hydration aids productivity which is always good for business.

While we are all familiar with the well-documented, adverse effects of dehydration, we turn to another study which takes a more positive approach – rather than withhold water, what happens when we give water? In their paper entitled Effects of hydration status on cognitive performance and mood, Masento and Reekum looked at studies across a variety of different subject groups to ascertain if water intervention improved performance.

Drinking water improves visual sustained attention

Young adults were given varying amounts of water and then asked to complete a rapid visual information-processing task. The researchers found that the group receiving the most water (330ml) performed the best while the group that received no water performed the worst. Across a number of studies, where the experimental design and also the amounts of water given were changed, the result remained the same – water consumption improves the cognitive function of visual sustained attention.

Drinking water improves simple reaction time

Adults were asked to rate their thirst levels, they were then assigned to a nil-water or water group and asked to perform a simple reaction time task. Those subjects who’d identified themselves as thirsty and were in the nil-water group performed significantly worse than their counterparts. Not only did the study show that drinking water improved simple reaction time, it also showed the importance of baseline hydration levels – those participants who were thirsty at the start of the experiment were potentially mildly dehydrated which already slowed reaction time.

Drinking water improves mood

Young adults were randomly assigned to nil-water and water supplementation groups, and then asked to complete a range of cognitive tasks and mood ratings. In the groups that were given water, their mood ratings were improved – they reported feeling calmer and more alert immediately after drinking the water.

It’s clear to see that water intervention enhances performance, and as improving productivity is essential in the workplace, it’s also clear to see why water dispensers are crucial to the office set-up. At AquAid we have a wide range of water coolers to choose from, but if you’re in the process of updating your current breakout area or refreshment point, consider installing AquAid Instant Taps. Hot water taps can provide instantly ready boiling, ambient or chilled water at the touch of a button; they are also stylish, compact, efficient and cost-effective. If you want to increase productivity in your office, contact AquAid today – we will help you find the best water solution for your needs.