by Belinda Ollewagen | Jan 18, 2019 | Hot Water Taps, instant tap, water cooler
Marc Levy, France’s widest read author wrote: ‘Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course? Each of us has such a bank, its name is time. Every morning, it credits you 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off at a lost, whatever of this you failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against “tomorrow”. You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and health. The clock is running. Make the most of today.’
It’s a rather sobering thought isn’t it? And a rather novel way of viewing what many consider to be our greatest commodity. We are slaves to busyness and time, and not always in a good way either. Without doubt, time is the one thing we have no control over, so best to use it wisely and in Levy’s words ‘if you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours’.
So what does this have to do with hot water taps you might ask? The answer is simple – convenience. Convenience is like a time cash cow, the more convenience you can squeeze into your day, the greater the generation of time. And hot water taps are one way that can help make things simpler, smoother and faster. Boiling water at the touch of a button saves us from having to wait for a kettle to boil – it saves on energy bills too, but that’s an aside – from a convenience point of view hot water taps are a great time-saver. It can take around 3 minutes for a kettle to boil; if you drink 4 cups of tea or coffee a day at the office, that’s 12 minutes a day wasted – and while that might not seem like a lot initially, that’s 264 minutes a working month, or nearly 4.5 hours.
So, to make more of your 86,400 seconds a day bank balance, invest in hot water taps from AquAid – the UK’s leading supplier of all things office-water related – and make those seconds count!
by Belinda Ollewagen | Jan 18, 2019 | instant tap, water cooler
Is there such a thing as drinking too much water? Should you decrease your number of visits to the office water cooler? The answer to the first question is yes. And the answer to the second question is no.
Yes, you can drink too much, but it’s an extreme ‘too much’. Runner’s World ran an article a while back entitled busting eight hydration myths, and one of those busted myths was that ‘you can’t drink too much’. If you over-hydrate it can lead to a condition called hyponatremia. As defined by the Mayo Clinic, this ‘occurs when the level of sodium in your blood is abnormally low. Sodium is an electrolyte, and it helps regulate the amount of water that’s in and around your cells. When [hyponatremia] happens, your body’s water levels rise, and your cells begin to swell. This swelling can cause many health problems, from mild to life-threating’.
And why should you not decrease your number of visits to the water cooler? Because of your thirst mechanism, that’s why. Another busted myth is that ‘thirst isn’t a good hydration tool’ – yes, it is. Your body knows what it needs, and when it needs water, it will trigger your thirst mechanism – whether you’re attuned to that trigger or not is another matter of course. So, if you learn to listen to your body and give it what it needs when it signals it, you should be fine. If you’re an athlete and you’re concerned about the amount of water you lose while exercising, knowing your sweat rate and compensating for it, is another way to ensure you receive proper hydration. Doug Casa, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut and COO of the Korey Stringer Institute says the ‘goal isn’t to match your sweat rate, but you should try to get as close as is comfortably possible. For some runners, that may mean replacing two-thirds of the fluid they sweat during the run’. He also adds that you shouldn’t try to drink more than you lose.
And here’s another busted myth ‘caffeine dehydrates you’ – no, it doesn’t. If taken in moderation, coffee or tea can count towards your hydration quota for the day. So, if you feel the need for another hot drink, then head over to the instant taps in your breakout area and make another cup – not only will it aid your hydration levels, but the break will do you good too as both these factors are productivity enhancers!
by Belinda Ollewagen | Nov 23, 2018 | Hot Water Taps, instant tap, water cooler
After a fabulous summer, the weather has definitely turned and whether we like it or not, it’s time to start preparing for winter. That means cranking up the heat, increasing the number of layers as we step outside and increasing our intake of hot teas and coffee. Not only are hot drinks warming, but a very interesting study also found that they make us friendlier: ‘participants who briefly held a cup of hot (versus iced) coffee judged a target person as having a “warmer” personality’ – so that’s something to keep in mind the next time you want everyone to get along.
While we know hot drinks warm us up, the jury’s still out on whether this ‘fact’ is grounded in science or if it’s more psychological. Either way, there’s something very comforting about heading over to the hot water taps in your staff breakout area and making a hot cup of coffee; which brings us to an essential for winter – instant taps. With everyone vying for boiling water to make that next cup of tea, there’s nothing more frustrating than having to wait in line for a kettle to boil, but with instant taps in your staff kitchen, wasted time and poor productivity is a thing of the past.
Hot water taps are space saving – small and compact, they fit neatly underneath a counter or sink. Beautifully designed, they are stylish, modern and versatile; and provide instantly boiling water at the touch of a button. And because they’re plumbed into the mains water supply, the hot water is also limitless which means there’s plenty to go around for both staff and clients or customers – making instant taps ideal for not only breakout areas, but also boardrooms and conferencing venues. And because there’s no kettle to boil, instant taps are also more cost-effective and time-saving – factors which definitely affect a company’s bottom line.
So, if you want to keep your team warm, happy, friendlier and more productive, consider installing AquAid Instant Taps in your breakout area – not only will you benefit from the high-quality products and exceptional service provided by the UK’s leading water cooler supplier, but for a short time only you can save even more as AquAid are also offering free installation and three months free rental on all their instant taps.
by Belinda Ollewagen | Oct 17, 2018 | instant tap, water cooler
The dreaded afternoon office slump is something that afflicts many of us – come 3pm and we’re definitely NOT jumping up and down with boundless energy! Out of habit (and desperation) we usually grab a cup of coffee or a chocolate bar, but caffeine or sugar injections are most often counter-productive and we hit that slump even harder the next time around. In an effort to find healthier alternatives we went looking for options that hold more longevity, and HuffPost never disappoints, taken from Healthy Living, here are five of our favorite new energy boosters – and yes, your office water cooler is one of them.
- Munch a Lemon
No you didn’t read that wrong. Grab a lemon and bite into it – the tart citrus flavors will make your eyes pop and give you a quick boost of energy.
Extra perk: by adding lemon juice to your drinking water, you also add a number of other health benefits that help your body perform more optimally too.
- Take a Walk
Even for those of us stuck in an office, a quick walk around the block can do wonders. Between the fresh air and getting your body moving, flailing energy levels will definitely improve.
Extra perk: recent reports claim that sitting (as many of us in an office environment do all day long) is the new smoking, and that taking those frequent short walks helps ward off the negative consequences of being chair bound for so long.
- Grab a Peppermint
Different aromatherapy scents deliver different results and peppermint too has its place in the scent world, smelling peppermint fragrances or simply chewing a peppermint sweet can help one perk up.
Extra perk: drinking peppermint tea also helps soothe many digestive and stomach issues.
- Turn up the Music
While you might not be able to dance around the office to your favorite song (although stranger things have happened), nothing stops you from putting on your headphones and doing a little desk-dancing, it definitely energizes the spirit.
Extra perk: music actually helps you perform your tasks a little faster too.
- Drink Water
And finally, your water cooler: drinking water definitely does help when you’re in a slump, because very often what we mistake for fatigue is actually dehydration, and while other cold and hot drinks might aid hydration, nothing is as effective or as healthy as drinking water.
Extra perk: when using any of the AquAid products, whether water cooler or instant taps, a percentage of all sales are donated to the Africa Trust who help bring fresh drinking water to some of the most impoverished areas in Africa!
by Belinda Ollewagen | Oct 16, 2018 | instant tap, water cooler
If you’re making regular trips to your water cooler to make sure your body remains well hydrated so that it can perform optimally – well done! But if drinking regular water is starting to feel a little ho-hum, then maybe it’s time to mix things up a little, and an excellent way of doing that is to add something simple like a slice or two of lemon. Apart from enhancing the taste, lemon water also carries a number of other benefits.
Helps Prevent Urinary Tract Infections
Natural News advocates adding half a cup of lemon juice to your drinking water in the morning to help combat UTIs – lemon maintains the correct pH levels in the urinary tract preventing bacteria from growing.
Helps Strengthen the Immune System
Lemon is an excellent source of Vitamin C which, as we all know, helps combat colds and flu – especially important now as winter approaches. Not only that, but according to Greatist it’s also an antioxidant powerhouse and could help ‘decrease heart disease risk, reduce inflammation, and fight some cancers’.
Helps Reduce Inflammation
As cited on Live Strong, lemon juice helps to neutralize uric acid in the joints which is a major cause of inflammation – ‘although an acid itself, lemon juice, like apple cider vinegar, helps to promote the production of digestive juices including bicarbonate, helping to neutralize acidity in the body.’
And if preventing UTIs, strengthening your immune system and reducing inflammation is not enough reason to add lemon juice to your glass of water from the water cooler or instant taps in your breakout area, consider the aesthetic benefits: it helps neutralize the bacteria in your mouth which causes smelly breath and it aids collagen production which helps to keep your skin plump and youthful-looking. And if drunk in warm water, on an empty stomach as you start your day, lemon juice water is also said to aid weight loss as it promotes better digestion and increases your metabolism. So, go ahead and add a squeeze or two of lemon to your water – the benefits are far-reaching.
