All Articles
2012 Articles
- An Improving Environmental Footprint for the Bottled Water Industry
- Strong Performance for UK Bottled Water in 2011
- Venezuela’s President Announces Price Caps on Bottled Water
- Polyethylene terephthalate
- Marathon Rehydration
- Taking Water into the Exam Hall Improves Grades
- Two Thirds of French Children Dehydrated when they get to School
- Marvellous Minerals
- Defining Water: Minerals vs Hydration
- International World Water Day 2012
- Water Quality – The Issue of our Age
- BWCA Golf Day, Conference and Trade Show 2012
- Bottled Water Sales Banned at the Grand Canyon
- New Study into Perceptions amongst Health Professionals of Hydration and its Importance
- New Year’s Greetings
- Smart Water
- Classy Water
- Olympics a Welcome boost to Bottled Water Industry in 2012
- Water Cooler Cannon
- Dehydration in the Elderly
- 60% of Europe’s Spring Water is Found in Romania
- How safe is it to Refill your Plastic Water Bottle? Pt 1 – Bacterial Concerns
- How safe is it to Refill your Plastic Water Bottle? Pt 2 – Chemical Concerns
- The Water Cycle
- Algae
- How Filters Work Pt 1 - Granular Activated Carbon Filtration
- How Filters Work – Pt 2 – Ultraviolet Treatment and Ion Exchange
- How Filters Work. Pt 3 - Microporous Filtration and Reverse Osmosis
2011 Articles
- World Health Organisation Drinking Water Guidelines
- European Commision Drinking Water Directive
- And Finally for Today
- Water Cooler Test for Giant Octopus
- Yate Water Cooler Company Welcomes Local MP in Bid For the UK to Stay Cooler!
- Where’s Cooler? – British Water Cooler Association Competition Aims to Raise Public Awareness
- Introducing the Everest Office Water Cooler
- A Call to Improve Kerbside Plastic Bottle Collection
- The Flavia Creation 400 Brewer – Bringing Café Culture into the Office
- Why it's so important to keep our children hydrated?
- Why Do Ice Cubes Float in Water
- Keep It Light
- Plumbed In Vs Bottled Water coolers (Part 1: Cost and Convenience)
- Plumbed In Vs Bottled Water Coolers (Part 2: Water Quality and Environmental Impact)
- FoodBev.com Awards 2011
- Swindon Named Most ‘Water Conscious’ Town in the UK by Thames Water
- Drinking Water Helps Prevent Diabetes
- Bottled Water Industry denies EFSA hydration claims will affect them
- Top Tips for A Hygienic Water cooler – Pt 1
- Top Tips for A Hygienic Water Cooler – Pt 2
- BWCA Recruits ‘Hydration Heroes’ as part of its Stay Cooler Campaign
- What’s Coming Out of Your Tap
- Water Coolers for the Education System - Free Trial On Water Coolers To Keep Your Pupils Healthy
- Curing the New Year's Party Hangover Pt 1 – Water the Ultimate Elixir
- What’s the Difference Between Spring Water and Mineral Water
2010 Articles
- Pow wow administration
- The official Powwow Rescue Package
- Office Watercoolers are now live on Twitter
- Scientists Create Dry Water!
- Water is Weird!
- Autumn Promotion
- Essential Care of Your Water Cooler
- Essential Care of a Plumbed-in Water Cooler
- How to Choose a Water Cooler Supplier
- How to Choose a Water Cooler
- Fancy a Coffee?
- What are the Different Types of Water
- Why Choose a Member of the British Water Cooler Association
- Our Staff Are Now Criminal Record Bureau Checked
- Office Water Coolers and the Save A Cup Scheme
- Office Water Coolers Waste Policy
- Water Coolers in Schools Evaluation
- The Office Group Expands its Product Range
- Office Water Coolers and the AWS Group
- Drinking Water and Perpetual Youth!
- Bottled Water Vs Tap Water
- How Does a Water Cooler Work?
- How Much Does a Water Cooler Cost
- Water and the Environment - The Industry Speaks
- Getting a Water Cooler is Easy
- Customer Testimonials Mars Flavia
- Water Coolers and Purification
- Do Bottled Water, and Water Coolers, Contribute to Global Warming?
- Bottled vs Plumbed-in Water Coolers - Carbon Footprint Compared
- Which Water Cooler is Best to Install - Bottled or Plumbed-in (POU)?
- Get a Free Flavia Coffee Machine!
- Bottled Water vs Tap Water - Carbon Footprint Compared
- Does the bottled water cooler industry recycle its water bottles?
- Website Improvements
- Case Study: Beverage Service Station
- Introducing the Coolcask
- Introducing the Elite Water Cooler
- Introducing the Blizzard Fountain
- The Supreme Stylish Water Cooler
- Low Cost Water Coolers
- Environmental and sustainable hot and cold beverage supply
- Dealing With Algae in Your Water Cooler
- Hydration and Health
- What is the Drinking Water Inspectorate?
2008 Articles
- Well Being Checks, On The Spot
- Campaign for hydrated meetings!
- Water Helps Prevent Cancer
- Workplace wellbeing: a water-based solution?
- Health and Hydration in the work place
- Office Health, Hydration And Now Hot Drinks
- Environmental Initiative 2009
- Office Watercoolers Carbon Offset Program
- The Dangers of Working Up a Sweat
How Does a Water Cooler Work?
27/02/2012 By Peter Brooks
Every water cooler, including both bottled and mains (plumbed in) water coolers, has a reservoir inside the casing that holds water. This reservoir is where the water is cooled prior to being dispensed.
The reservoir is kept topped up either from a large plastic water bottle, or from a water mains supply.
Mains, or plumbed in, water coolers often have a water filter between the incoming water supply and the reservoir to improve the quality of the water.
Once the water is in the reservoir it's time to cool the water.
There are two main ways of cooling the water: using a refrigerant or using thermoelectricity.
The refrigerant system works in almost exactly the same way as your fridge at home. A compressor compresses a gas, this causes the temperature of the gas to rise, the gas is then passed to a condenser where the heat from the gas dissipates and the gas cools down until it becomes a liquid. Once the gas is cold it is forced through an expansion valve which causes it to drop in pressure and become even colder. At this point the gas is present in the evaporator which absorbs the heat from the water held in the reservoir. This then heats the refrigerant which then starts the cycle again. The cycle is kept going using electricity to drive a pump.
The thermoelectric method of cooling the water relies on the Peltier effect a Peltier device uses a thermoelectic effect, this means that when electricity passes through the Peltier device heat is transported from one side of the device to the other. This results in cooling on one side of the device and this is used to cool the water inside your water cooler.
Once the water is cold it's ready to be dispensed. The tap on the front of the water cooler releases a valve connected to the cold water reservoir which allows the water to flow into your cup.
In a bottled water cooler, the reduction in water level within the reservoir triggers another valve which allows more water into the reservoir ensuring the reservoir is always full.
You may have noticed that if you dispense too much water from the water cooler the water comes out warm. This happens when you have emptied the reservoir because it takes some time for the fresh water to be cooled within the reservoir.
© 2012 Office Water Coolers
Recent Articles
An Improving Environmental Footprint for the Bottled Water Industry
Consider this; recycling a single large plastic bottle (made
from PET) conserves enough energy to light a 60 watt bulb for 6 hours. The National
Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) reported that in 2010 1.5
billion pounds of PET was recycled in America.
Recycled PET (rPET) can be made into all sorts of things like car parts,
playground equipment, carpet or even clothing.
Now consider this; in America (and I daresay the figures are
not that dissimilar in the UK) plastic bottles ...
read more
Strong Performance for UK Bottled Water in 2011
Good news for the bottled water industry as it reports a 2.8%
increase in sales in 2011 (1.8 billion litres). As an industry that employs two
thousand people it is good news in these economically trying times as the UK officially
enters a double dip recession. So with unemployment remaining high and when
people are cutting back on so much, saving their pennies, why does the bottled
water industry grow when compared to 2010.
Well it seems there are a lot of other factors at play.
UK households ...
read more
Venezuela’s President Announces Price Caps on Bottled Water
Flamboyant Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has started
announcing more price caps as part of his government’s Law of Fair Prices,
passed back in November 2011. The law was designed to limit what is seen as
excessive profiteering on 19 household goods and groceries but is now being
expanded as the government announce new prices for different products and it is
starting with bottled water and deodorant.
The books of over 16,000 companies have been examined by
the Venezuelan government so far ...
read more
Polyethylene terephthalate
What is polyethylene terephthalate? Well chances are you’ve
encountered it already today if you’ve swigged from a bottle of water or any of
a whole range of bottled drinks. Abbreviated to PET, polyethylene terephthalate
is probably most associated with the packaging for plastic bottles due to its
properties as an excellent and durable barrier material. The thermoplastic
polymer is part of the polyester family and can exist in both amorphous
(transparent) and as a semicrystalline polymer which ...
read more
