by Fern Shaw | Jan 10, 2023 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Irrespective of an organisation’s size or how many people are employed, there is an inescapable element that affects productivity among all in the workplace.
Lack of adequate hydration affects a staggering nine out of ten Britons. This is due to a number of factors, however, a crucial part of this may be due to a work culture that perpetuates working without taking breaks, eating and drinking at one’s desk and most significantly not having a water cooler in the office or water dispenser station on the premises.
Research shows that a body water loss as little as 1 to 2% could be considered mild dehydration and already negatively affecting cognitive performance.
With a 2013 study showed that drinking water resulted in a 14% increase in productivity* a practical, cost-effective solution is the installation of a water cooler of sufficient capacity based on the size of the staff contingent, dispensing refreshing drinking water on demand.
AquAid has a solution. Take advantage of their 25 years’ experience and dedication in providing their very best in products and service to more than 33,000 customers across 22 branches across the UK.
*Sources: Habitgrowth
by Fern Shaw | Sep 13, 2022 | aquaid, water cooler, Water Coolers
In our very rushed lives, it would seem the simplest action oftentimes becomes the most difficult.
Take your water intake for example. Aside from every being alive requiring water to simply survive, let alone flourish, it’s a pretty sad state of affairs in which we often find ourselves. Somehow, on a daily basis, one of the most necessary functions most vital to our well-being is oft ignored.
It’s a foregone conclusion that we require water for each of our body organs to function at an optimum level – from nail growth through to how well our brain operates.
When it comes to brain health, sufficient water intake is essential, especially considering the fact that your grey matter is made up of 75% water.
So how does hydration and dehydration affect brain health?
Our brains consist of billions of neurons that regulate everything from core temperature to perspiration. Because the brain is made up mostly of water, it makes sense that this organ won’t work as efficiently when it is water deficient.
Proper hydration can literally improve mood. Drinking water makes us feel so refreshed that it actually improves our state of mind. You don’t even have to be severely in need of it to benefit: even mild dehydration has been shown to negatively affect moods.
On the reverse of that, if your brain is dehydrated, it affects motor and cognitive skills: symptoms including irritability, sluggishness and an inability to think straight. Dehydration also showed a strong link to poor memory. When you’re water deficient, it’s hard to stay focused on a certain task.
Drinking water can combat headaches naturally. Going without water for too long causes headaches for some people, and has been identified as a migraine trigger. The good news is that in a study on the effects of water on headaches, participants experienced ‘total relief’ from their headaches within 30 minutes of drinking water (two cups, on average).
It can be a short cut to keeping alert. If you need to concentrate for long periods of time, keeping water handy will help you stay refreshed, hydrated, and focused: dehydration can impair your attention span, memory, and motor skills.
Want to think more clearly? Drink water (more than you’re drinking now). Dehydration causes shrinkage of brain tissue. So when we haven’t been drinking enough water, our brains have to work a lot harder to perform at the same level. One study even found that students who brought water to tests did better on their exams.
At AquAid, we’re well-versed about how important a sufficient water intake is to our health and well-being. Which is why, when it comes to water dispensers, we will always give you the best advice about which water cooler is the right fit for your office, workspace, work site, medical or educational facility.
Contact us at your convenience. Allow us to provide you with the benefit of over 23 years’ experience while we guide you to which AquAid water cooler from our extensive range will help you keep brain alert, happy and healthy.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 23, 2022 | water cooler, water dispenser
This is not, as one might deduce from the heading, a blog about drinking refreshing water from your water cooler, but rather about steps that you can take when you’re convinced that you’re about to have a meltdown rivalling that of Chernobyl.
- Close your eyes (preferably, not when you’re driving your lorry). Gently let the world disappear, and go within to regain your equilibrium. This makes sense as when one thinks of how much information one is exposed to every waking minute of the day – mobiles; TVs; iPads, iPhones; Social Media – it can be a blessed relief to switch off that constant input for a little while – and not just while one is sleeping. Consciously closing one’s eyes and drifting off can calm ones frayed nerves immensely.
- Go outside. This can be easier said than done, as we don’t all have the luxury of a village green, common or park near us, but you can try to find a safe(ish) open area with a bit of grass or a bench where you’re not jammed in cheek to jowl with other equally stressed human beings.
- Breathe deeply. Breathing is the foundation of sanity. It is the way we provide our brain and every other vital organ in our body with the oxygen needed for us to survive. Breathing also eliminates toxins from our systems. One of the simplest ways to calm the nerves is to stay still (sitting or standing) and breath in through the nose, mouth closed, deep into the stomach, and exhale, again, through the nose, mouth closed. Repeat 3x.
- Find some water. Whether it’s a local pond or a gentle babbling brook, being close to running water is very calming. On inclement days where you can’t really venture outside, take a shower and imagine (albeit briefly) that you’re on some tropical island underneath a waterfall.
- Drink water. When you’re overwrought, keep drinking it – a big glass of it once an hour. Walk beside some water, look at and listen to it. Get into some if you can, for a bath or a swim. Hot baths and hot springs are popular for good reasons.
Of course, AquAid being one of the UK’s top water cooler suppliers, to offices, workplaces and private residences, we don’t recommend using your water dispenser to mimic the wonderfully soothing sound of gently running water, but then … you knew that.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 18, 2022 | mains fed water cooler, water cooler
It’s summer. It’s holiday time. However, for those of us left to sweat it out in the office – cramps, headaches, sore muscles and wish-I-was-on-holiday blues are at an all-time high.
Here are a few tips to keep you moving and grooving and in tip-top work able shape:
Relax those shoulders. Office workers, teachers prepping lessons, site work cost efficiency forecasts – we’ve all been there. Glued to your chair, deadlines looming, shoulders tensed, making you look more like of close relation of Gru’s than you care to think. Solution? Check your body posture every twenty minutes or so. If you’ve hunched over, simply relax your shoulders. Repeat until you learn to automatically check your desk posture while seated.
Stretch out the kinks. The simplest stretches can help reduce aches, stiffness and tension, decrease muscle spasm. The benefit is stretching can be performed while seated or standing, although standing will have a more overall body benefit.
Walk! As simple as that. Stand up, stretch out and perambulate around your work place. The ideal keep fit combo is walking to replenish your water bottle or water glass at your water cooler station.
Add water to all the above. Make sure that you drink water throughout the day and after every relaxation technique and stretch.
Remember though, whether your office / workplace is icier than the Northern Sea because of the aircon. working more overtime than you do or its au naturel baking hot, both mean you can dehydrate quickly, so make sure that you increase your water intake to stave off dehydration and compensate the amount of energy expended while exercising.
Don’t have a water cooler? There is an easy solution. Contact AquAid’s experienced and professional in-house agents. We offer a free on-site survey to assess your water dispenser requirements and whether you are best served installing bottled or mainsfed water coolers.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 2, 2022 | water cooler, water cooler, water dispenser
With our lives now predominately online (often whether we like it or not) and our virtual conduct changing from day to day, it can be tricky negotiating one’s conduct in the physical realm. Added to this is with so many of us having worked remotely for such a long period, returning to work in the office or school can be a little challenging.
Change is good. Of course it is. There’s no progress or movement without change. Certain things though, don’t change. That’s also good. All said it’s good to know that in the physical realm thankfully some things never change.
How you approach the office water cooler station happens to be one of those things that hasn’t changed. Perhaps the banter has (massively, for obvious reasons) and very likely you’re using an AquAid touch-free water dispenser, but overall, as you head out to hydrate, water cooler station etiquette remains as it was.
Should you be feeling a little out of touch (no, not the same as a no-touch water cooler) here are a few helpful pointers:
- Don’t block access while you’re catching up with colleagues.
- Don’t use your water cooler to wash your containers/mug, water glass, or bottle!
- Keep your interaction light and impersonal. It may be important to you, but most likely hearing about your Aunt Violet’s verruca removal isn’t really what a workmate had in mind.
- Do confab about work. There are countless studies that prove exchanging ideas and comparing notes away from your office, workspace or desk often results in a good outcome.
- Keep the area tidy, help replace the bottled water if you can and if you note the bottle water supply is uncommonly low, make sure to alert your bottled water supplier. It may help to know that at AquAid, we have 23 local depots, meaning replacing your bottled water is quick and efficient.
