Plumbed In Vs Bottled Water coolers (Part 1: Cost and Convenience)

27/02/2012 By Peter Brooks

The UK is the most developed market for plumbed in coolers in the world with their market share jumping from 18% in 2004 to 42% in 2009, this compared to a market share of just 14% in the US. With increasing consumer confidence in the filtered mains water it seems that on both sides of the pond though the trend is definitely in favour of plumbed in water coolers.

It is a market trend that we have been watching closely at Office Water coolers. So we thought it would be high time to give you an honest and objective breakdown of the advantages and disadvantages of both plumbed in and bottled water coolers, so you the customer can make an informed decision about what’s best for your office or school.

We’ll start by comparing cost and convenience.

Cost

Cost is obviously the most obvious contributing factor to whether you decide to go for a bottled or plumbed in cooler. If you consume more than 18.5 litres of water per week then a plumbed in water cooler would be more cost efficient in the long run.

That’s not to say that if you consume under this volume of water then a bottled water cooler would necessarily be the best option. There are hidden costs associated with bottled water coolers such as storage and disposal of water bottles, placing orders for more water bottles, as well as the effort needed to lift the bottles onto the cooler itself. These costs in time and effort can quickly add up.

Convenience

Thinking about costs can often mean considering the convenience, or inconvenience, of both bottled and plumbed in water coolers. There is the obvious logistical consideration of having to order bottles and store them when opting for the latter; something that simply doesn’t factor when you’re getting your filtered water straight from the mains supply. There is also the time spent receiving and ordering the bottled water.

There is however a clear advantage to the number of places you could potentially locate a bottled water cooler as it doesn’t need to be connected to the mains supply. It should be noted though that prolonged exposure of the bottles to direct sunlight could lead to algae problems , as we have already discussed on these pages. Office Water coolers can supply protective ‘hoods’ for the bottles in these circumstances of course.

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