by Fern Shaw | Oct 14, 2013 | Charity, Health and Hydration, water cooler, Water Coolers
Remember the heat wave? You must – it was only a month or so ago. Now, take those temperatures and turn up the heat, so to speak, by a good 8 °C. Or for that matter, another 10°C.
Now, take a good 38°C and couple it with scant shade … and … no water.
Then, to this rather sweltering image, add this: If you want drinking water, you need to walk to go and find it. And not just down to the corner caf, but a few miles. When you get there, you can’t just buy a bottle of water (or any liquid for that matter); you have to fill the bucket that you brought with you and walk back home, carrying the now full bucket.
Not enough Bear Grylls for you? The water that you’ve just fetched is most likely, not fresh, and not clean and may be so full of bacteria, that even while trying to hydrate yourself, you may very well be making yourself ill without even realising it.
Remember, this is just water for you (and possibly, members of your family) to drink. This is not water that is needed to wash your clothes or your dishes or to water your meagre food crop with. This is just water to drink to keep you going. This is basic human survival type of stuff.
This is the day to day existence for many communities throughout the Third World and in the summer months, lack of potable water is amplified by the heat.
That’s just one of the reasons that AquAid chose to work with sustainable charities like The Africa Trust.
Because although we’re always tooting our horn about being one of the top water cooler providers in the U.K. we also (truly) believe in helping others less fortunate to help themselves. So, while we have you to thank, most valued customer, for your support and through your purchases making it possible for others to help themselves; isn’t it rather nice to know that when you’re sipping cool spring water from one of our water coolers, there’s another Elephant Pump being built in Africa, bringing fresh, clean drinking water to yet another community in need?
I think so. Good on yer. Toot toot!
by Fern Shaw | Oct 7, 2013 | Uncategorized
This is not what you think. Me plugging away about ways with water, but rather, waterways. Yes, waterways, canals, barges, the whole patootie. Spread throughout the U.K.
In England and Wales, there are over 2 000 miles of waterways and they fall under the auspices of The Canal & River Trust.
In Scotland, there are just over 135 miles of canals and waterways – these treasures are under Scottish Canals.
Just to give an indication of how truly remarkable and diverse these waterways are, pictured above from left to right are:
The Falkirk Wheel in Scotland; the The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales and The Llangollen Canal between England and Wales.
The British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom’s Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of “mass” transit by road of raw materials and finished products. The UK was the first country to acquire a nationwide canal network. These waterways have been an integral part of U.K. history since Roman times.
The first British canals were built in Roman times as irrigation or land drainage canals or short connecting spurs between navigable rivers. In the Middle Ages a spate of building projects, such as castles, monasteries and churches, led to the improvement of rivers for the transportation of building materials. Various Acts of Parliament were passed regulating transportation of goods, tolls and horse towpaths for various rivers.
In the post-medieval period some natural waterways were ‘canalised’ or improved for boat traffic, in the 16th century. The first Act of Parliament was obtained by the City of Canterbury, in 1515, to extend navigation on the River Stour in Kent, followed by the River Exe in 1539, which led to the construction in 1566 of a new channel, the Exeter Canal. Simple flash locks were provided to regulate the flow of water and allow loaded boats to pass through shallow waters by admitting a rush of water, but these were not purpose-built canals as we understand them today.
Now, as yet, we at AquAid haven’t come up with a plan to ‘canal’ your super spring water to your premises or school, but we can assure you that our super spring water isn’t sourced from these canals (especially the ones that were built for drainage – ew.)
What we can say, with assurance, is that our bottle fed water coolers use only the tippy toppy spring water from one of three sources.
by Fern Shaw | Sep 16, 2013 | water cooler, Water Coolers
The Small(er) Version
Today, we’re going to be looking at the svelte version of the Big Boys.
This little wonder is called a Desktop Plumbed-In Water Cooler.
If you are short on space but want to enjoy the cost-saving benefits of a plumbed in water cooler, these desktop units are the answer. Compact and elegant, this water cooler and water dispenser connects straight to your mains supply, using a unique Doulton drinking water filter that produces a chilled and refreshing taste equal to that of bottled water.
Plumbed in water dispenser – cut your costs
Without the need to order supplies of bottled water, and instead relying on your standard supply, a plumbed in water cooler can cut your costs considerably.
Not only do these plumbed in water coolers save you money, they also save you space and effort. There’s no need to store and replace large water bottles and one annual invoice reduces your administration.
Desktop Plumbed In water cooler – features:
- 1 annual invoice, eliminating the administration involved with some bottled-water suppliers
- No more running out of water
- No more need to store big water bottles
- Available as either Hot and Cold or Cold and Room Temperature
- Unique ‘Doulton’ drinking water filter
- High quality stainless steel tank
- Adjustable thermostat for accurate temperature control
- Noiseless circuit in compact design
- Function indicating LED lamps
- Extremely compact
So, there you have it in a nutshell or rather, a water cooler. Oh, and did you see the bit about Hot and Cold or Cold and Room Temperature too? Pretty nifty don’t you think?
Please feel free to contact us, we’ll be delighted to assist you in the correct water cooler solution.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 30, 2013 | Health and Hydration, water cooler, Water Coolers
Last week we introduced the High Capacity Point of Use (POU) Water Cooler.
Before we get into today’s introduction, a note; I call them the ‘big boys’, not because of any gender preference, but somehow introducing these water cooler marvels as ‘the big girls’ just doesn’t ring true. I’m as fair as fair can be when it comes to assigning objects with gender (the French have absolutely no problem with gender assignation, le livre, la bicyclette), hey, my car is a boy – Newt he’s called.
Anyhow, it’s decided. Here is another of the ‘big boys’.
The AquAid 400 Free standing Mains Fed Water Cooler is a premium water cooler that combines style with outstanding performance.
This POU Cooler comes with a new Flood Guard, flood prevention device and it has Hygiene Guard anti-microbial taps fitted as a standard.
Spring quality water from your point of user water cooler
AquAid’s 400 Water Cooler connects to your mains supply and uses a unique, high quality Doulton water filtration system to deliver water that’s as refreshing and pure as water from bottle fed water coolers.
Freestanding Point of Use water cooler features:
1) 1 annual invoice, eliminating the administration involved with some bottled-water suppliers
2) No more running out of water
3) No more need to store big water bottles
4) High quality ‘Doulton’ water filtration system
5) Available as either Hot and Cold or Cold and Room Temperature
6) High quality stainless steel tank
7) Adjustable thermostat for accurate temperature control
8) Noiseless circuit in compact design
9) Flood Guard, flood prevention device
10) Hygiene Guard anti-microbial taps fitted as a standard.
11) Push-button taps for ultimate hygiene and convenience
Not only do AquAid have more distribution centres than you can shake a stick at, your local branch is usually managed and staffed by whizzes who really know their water coolers and whether a big boy or a bottle fed *WAH-WAAAH* is the way to go. We do have a lot more options, just by the by. I’ll be introducing you to the entire water cooler family in the next few weeks.
Patience dear reader, patience.
Ridiculous that, me asking for patience when I have zip, zero, none, but hey, it’s my blog.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 19, 2013 | Health and Hydration
Gobsmacked. Yep, that’s me. ‘Why’, you ask? ‘Let me tell you’, I answer.
Because of this man: Mr Moser. Alfredo Moser. Inventor of the bottle light.
In 2002, the Brazilian mechanic had a light-bulb moment and came up with a way of illuminating his house during the day without electricity – using nothing more than plastic bottles filled with water and a tiny bit of bleach.
In the last two years his innovation has spread throughout the world. It is expected to be in one million homes by early next year.
So how does it work? Simple refraction of sunlight, explains Moser, as he fills an empty two-litre plastic bottle.
“Add two capfuls of bleach to protect the water so it doesn’t turn green [with algae]. The cleaner the bottle, the better,” he adds.
Wrapping his face in a cloth he makes a hole in a roof tile with a drill. Then, from the bottom upwards, he pushes the bottle into the newly-made hole.
“You fix the bottle in with polyester resin. Even when it rains, the roof never leaks – not one drop.”
The lamps work best with a black cap – a film case can also be used.
“An engineer came and measured the light,” he says. “It depends on how strong the sun is but it’s more or less 40 to 60 watts,” he says.
What is refraction?
- Refraction is the bending of light, which is caused by a change in its speed
- The speed of light is determined by the density of the substance through which it passes
- So refraction occurs when light passes from one substance to another with a different density – e.g. from air to water
- In the case of the “Moser lamp”, sunlight is bent by the bottle of water and spread around the room
His boss at the time suggested getting a discarded plastic bottle, filling it with water and using it as a lens to focus the sun’s rays on dry grass. That way one could start a fire, as a signal to rescuers. This idea stuck in Moser’s head – he started playing around, filling up bottles and making circles of refracted light.
Soon he had developed the lamp.
“I didn’t make any design drawings,” he says. “It’s a divine light. God gave the sun to everyone, and light is for everyone. Whoever wants it saves money. You can’t get an electric shock from it, and it doesn’t cost a penny.”
How much energy do the lamps save?
- The plastic bottles are up-cycled in the local community, so no energy is needed to gather, shred, manufacture and ship new bottles
- The carbon footprint of the manufacture of one incandescent bulb is 0.45kg CO2
- A 50 Watt light bulb running for 14 hours a day for a year has a carbon footprint of nearly 200kg CO2
- Moser lamps emit no CO2
Source: UN
“There was one man who installed the lights and within a month he had saved enough to pay for the essential things for his child, who was about to be born. Can you imagine?” he says.
Extracts taken from an article by Gibby Zobel BBC World Service, Uberaba, Brazil
So, whereas we at AquAid are not suggesting that you use your water from your water cooler for this ground breaking invention, we felt it only right that we dof our cap to the inventor. More power to you, Mr Moser!
