Eat Your Water

Eat Your Water

The weather is still pretty grim and as much as frequent visits to your office’s instant taps or water cooler might help you stay hydrated, it can be a little challenging to keep drinking that much liquid during the cold winter months; so another option is to up your intake of water-rich fruit and vegetables!

Not only does certain produce help with water intake, but fruit and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories, and they’re an important source of many nutrients including potassium, fiber, folic acid, Vitamin A and Vitamin C. These nutrients help our bodies maintain healthy blood pressure, reduce blood cholesterol levels, regulate our bowel movements, aid healthy fetal development in women, and protect against various infections – the benefits are endless. For all this, in addition to aiding hydration, it’s easy to see why we should include more of this food type in our diets.

So, if you’re struggling to drink those eight glasses of water each day from the water cooler, consider eating more of the following – in order of highest water content:

FRUIT

Watermelon holds the highest percentage of water at 92%, followed by Strawberries 92%, Grapefruit 91%, Cantaloupe 90%, Peach 88%, Raspberries 87%, Pineapple 87%, Cranberries 87%, Orange 87%, Apricot 86%, Blueberries 85%, Plum 85%, Pear 84%, Apple 84%, Cherries 81%, Grapes 81% and Banana 74%.

VEGETABLES

Cucumber holds the highest percentage of water at 96%, Lettuce (iceberg) 96%, Zucchini 95%, Celery 95%, Radish 95%, Tomato (red) 94%, Cabbage (green) 93%, Tomato (green) 93%, Cabbage (red) 92%, Cauliflower 92%, Peppers (sweet) 92%, Spinach 92%, Eggplant 92%, Broccoli 91%, Carrots 87%, Peas (green) 79% and Potato (white) 79%.

Whether it’s a fruit salad you bring along to the office, or perhaps a home-made soup, be sure to include more of these in your diet and then you won’t need to visit the water cooler dispenser quite that often in the chilly months.

The Clean Sip Water Straw Filters

The Clean Sip Water Straw Filters

The sheer number of people without access to clean and safe drinking water is staggering. According to the World Health Organization, in 2015 2.1 billion people didn’t have access to safely managed drinking-water services. Of those people ‘423 million people were taking water from unprotected wells and springs; and 159 million people were collecting untreated surface water from lakes, ponds, rivers and streams.’ It’s this desperate need, the need of millions to have cleaner and safer water to drink that drives us on and that has us support the Africa Trust. With a percentage of every water dispenser sale donated to the trust, AquAid has to date donated over £6 million pounds, built over 8,000 water wells in different developing countries on the continent, and helped bring safe drinking water to more than 1.2 million people.

There are many other organizations that also keep this dire need top of mind, and one such initiative is WATERisLIFE who have developed the new clean sip straw filters – a portable water purifier that can be used in any water source to provide water that is safe to drink.

This is how it works:

‘Inside the WATERisLIFE straw are membranes, patented filter material, and active carbon, which removes the taste and medium size bacteria. The technology protects against waterborne bacteria and viruses like typhoid, cholera, E. coli, dysentery and diarrhea. The smaller filters use new groundbreaking technology to cover a broader range of contaminates. Additionally, these filters deal with heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and aluminum, arsenic, fluoride, chlorine, cadmium, giardia, E Coli, algae, hydrogen sulfide, cholera, and typhoid.’

And this is how it makes a difference:

‘Each WATERisLIFE straw filter will provide hundreds of liters of clean water (typical use is 2-3 liters of water per day per person). Once it is no longer effective, the straw will stop being able to draw water. $10 puts a filter into the hands of a person who desperately needs it. ‘

If you also want to know that you’re making a difference and helping to bring clean and safe drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people, then choose an AquAid watercooler or water dispenser, because with every cup of AquAid water you help bring water to Africa.

Your Water Footprint & The Water Dispenser

Your Water Footprint & The Water Dispenser

We often talk about our carbon footprint – it’s a concept we’re familiar with out of necessity, because so much of what we do, or don’t do, affects our climate globally. But the same concept can be applied to water, whether it’s water out of the watercooler, irrigation water or washing water – nearly everything we do or consume is touched by water in some way and so it too has a footprint.

Building on the notion of virtual water first introduced by Professor Tony Allan in 1993, Professor Arjen Hoekstra in 2002 created the water footprint – a way of measuring how much water is consumed in the production of goods and services along the entirety of the supply chain. In the mid 2000’s global big-brand companies became more and more aware of their dependence on water and the water-related risks they faced, which in turn inspired Hoekstra in 2008 to create the Water Footprint Network  – a gathering of the brightest minds dedicated to showing how Water Footprint Assessment can help us move forward and overcome the challenges of unsustainable water use.

Their vision: ‘A world in which we share clean fresh water fairly amongst all people to sustain thriving communities and nature’s diversity.’

Their mission: ‘To use the water footprint concept to promote the transition toward sustainable, fair and efficient use of fresh water resources worldwide.’

So what can we do in our personal capacity to reduce our water footprint you might ask? Well there are two ways we can make a difference – directly and indirectly.

Directly we can reduce our own consumption by installing water-saving devices in our homes; we can make small changes like closing the tap while we brush our teeth; and we can use less water in our gardens.

Indirectly we have two options:  we can change what we consume – for example a shift from eating meat to becoming vegetarian, drinking tea instead of coffee, or better yet visiting the water dispenser more often and just drinking more plain water; or if these shifts seem too extreme, we can stay with what we consume, but choose those products (the cotton, beef or coffee) that has a lower water footprint. But this requires that we know more about the relevant products, and manufacturers aren’t always as forthcoming as they should be, so this is something else consumers can do – we can drive more transparency from the various key players.

Every action we take has a consequence – so let’s be sure to make it a positive one!

Ten to Six Reasons Having a Water Cooler Is Good For You – Part I

Ten to Six Reasons Having a Water Cooler Is Good For You – Part I

  1. Eco-Friendly

By using a water cooler dispenser, you are helping to protect our environment. We use billions of individual plastic water bottles each year and millions end up in our rubbish each day. By drinking water from a reusable water bottle and refilling our water bottles with a water cooler, we can significantly reduce this number. This means that you can still enjoy the convenience of having water with you at all times and be safe in the knowledge that you are lessening the harmful impact on the environment.

  1. Saves money

While the upfront cost of purchasing a water cooler can be a bit more costly initially, over time you can expect to see significant savings. Water coolers offer an economical way to drink more water. Instead of purchasing many disposable water bottles, you can save money by buying large bottles for your dispenser. If you’re using a mains fed water cooler dispenser, you can also expect to see significant savings.

  1. Perfect Temperature


Attractive Appearance
Many water dispensers come with hot and cold water taps. The cold water is perfect for a refreshing glass of water. The hot water tap offers a quick and convenient way to make tea, coffee, soup, hot chocolate or tea. Some units also come with a room temperature water tap for added convenience.

When most of us imagine a water cooler, we only picture a white plastic unit that isn’t the most appealing and won’t complement our kitchen, reception or office areas. Fortunately, this stereotype is no longer true. AquAid’s range of water coolers are available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and materials.  Common finishes include black, white, silver and stainless steel.

  1. Perfect Size

If you’re concerned about where you would put a new water cooler, you don’t need to worry. Water coolers come in several shapes and sizes, so you can choose a unit that’s sure to fit perfectly in your space. Common models include a free-standing water cooler or a desktop (countertop) water cooler. Free-standing units are typically larger and are better suited for use in areas where there is more floor space. In contrast, desktop (countertop) water dispensers are usually more compact and are ideal for use in smaller spaces.

Look out for Part II to read about the other benefits a water cooler brings for you.

Water Coolers on demand

Water Coolers on demand

AquAid has been in the business of providing water coolers for near on two decades. This means we have a wealth of experience in fulfilling your water and water cooler requirements, ranging from:

AquAid provide water coolers and services to more than 30 000 customers throughout England, Ireland and Scotland.

We continue to ensure the provision of the correct water cooler solutions to our customers, coupled with services that include;

Fortnightly delivery plus our exclusive emergency next day delivery, free of charge;

Ongoing water cooler maintenance by AquAid trained and experienced engineers;

Keeping your AquAid local and in doing so, keeping it ‘green’.

There are 29 AquAid depots across the length and breadth of the UK. This means a smaller carbon footprint in the delivery of our water coolers, bottled water deliveries and your water cooler maintenance.

If you’d like more information on AquAid Water Coolers, our range of products and services that we offer, please either contact us here or telephone us on 0800 772 3003 – we be delighted to assist you.