UK Aqua Ltd

Water Cooler Features and Accessories
You may think a water cooler is just like a kettle, but in
reverse – it cools water instead of boiling it. In fact, water coolers are a
bit more complicated. For one thing, you have many more choices, with many
different models available, with different features and capacities.

Your first step is to decide on the type of water cooler you
want. Do you want it freestanding, under the sink or on a table top? Do you
want to use bottled water or is a plumbed in water cooler best for your
needs?  Once you’ve narrowed this choice
down, you still have other options to choose from.

One of the decisions you’ll need to make is the type of  water
cooler filter you want. The best type to choose will depend on your needs
and the quality of the water you are using, whether that is bottled or from the
mains supply. If your tap water smells of chlorine, a basic filter can help
eliminate that. If you need top level filtration (for example, if you want
ultra-clean water for an aquarium) there’s a filter that will do the job. Some
systems use only one filter, while others use a combination for maximum
filtration efficiency.

Carbon filters (carbon block or gas activated carbon
filters) will do most of the work you want your water cooler to do. These will
remove particles, odours and other contaminants. Carbon block filters are more
effective than gas activated types. A ceramic filter similarly filters water
through small pores. The Rolls Royce of filters is a reverse osmosis filter,
which will remove pollutants that other filter types generally cannot, however
this is very wasteful (almost 2/3 rd of the water is discarded) and totally unnatural.
Humans have been drinking water with plenty of other attributes and
constituents other than pure water since evolution began!

You may not realise that there are water coolers that will
produce hot as well as cold water for your home or workplace. Most models don’t
heat water to the temperature required for tea or coffee, but there are some
chiller/boiler combo models available. Others provide water to temperatures
that are more than adequate for washing up and similar tasks.

You will also have the option of buying various water cooler
accessories. If you’ve bought your water cooler outright or don’t have a
service contract, you can buy a service kit. This will contain all the things
you need to service your water cooler yourself, from sanitisation fluid to
brushes and gloves. It’s not complicated, and may be the right option for you.
Other accessories include cup dispensers, suitable for storing around fifty disposable
cups – perfect for the workplace.

A feature of contemporary water coolers is a wide design
range. You can choose from highly styled models for public-facing
areas, or basic design models for the back rooms. There’s plenty of choice and
you’ll have no trouble finding a water cooler that’s perfect for your
requirements.

Types of Water Filters

 What are the different types of filters used in water dispensers?

 Many plumbed in water dispensers found in shops and offices contain low cost/ low quality ’25 micron’ or ’10 micron’ carbon filters without a ‘carbon block’ (although the cost savings taken by the supplier without the customers knowledge will not normally be passed on to the customer).  These carbon filters may improve water taste but do not sift out particles smaller than ‘25 or ‘10 micron which can found in drinking tap water.

Active Carbon block Water Filters : 

Tiny flakes of carbon constantly break away from standard carbon filters. An Active  carbon block does not produce these flakes. A single gram of activated carbon can have a surface area in excess of 500 m², for comparison, a tennis tennis court is about 260 m².

Activated carbon surface properties are both hydrophobic and oleophilic; that is, they “hate” water but “love” oil. When conditions of flow are suitable, chemicals dissolved in water that flow over the carbon surface “stick”  in a thin film while the filtered purified water passes on.

This process described above is called adsorption. This process of adsorption means  activated carbon is an effective method of removing chlorine,  it’s by-products (TTHM’s) and volatile organic compounds. Good Quality active Carbon Filters therefore help remove natural and man made impurities including among others:

Pre-filter:

A pre-filter of a dispenser may be installed upstream of a high quality main filter.  The pre-filter is essentially provided as a fine sieve to reduce fine particles that would otherwise rapidly clog the main filter. 

UV Drinking filters:

UV water filters  reduce live bacteria in water by killing them.  Typically UV filters are only fitted to the cold water outlet of a dispenser.  An effective alternative to UV filters are quality 1.0 micron carbon block filters which can reduce bacteria over 1 micron in size by removing them physically them from the water.

Whilst possible on nearly all coolers the fitting of a UV filters to water dispensers is not generally necessary as treatment by the local water authority will mean that water should be drinking water standard. UV filters may be recommended if you have your own water supply (well / spa etc) in which case please seek advise from your local water authority.

Ceramic Filters:

These sift out particles typically as small as 1 micron but do not include a carbon filter so do not reduce chemical impurities or improve the taste of water.  A pre-filter to prevent rapid clogging is advisable if ceramic is to be used.

Reverse Osmosis Filtration:

The likelihood is that reverse osmosis is not required. It is rather like employing a JCB to crack a single hazel nut ie a significant amount of effort to produce a simple result..

Reverse Osmosis  provides the purest  filtration and is used for medical needs (e.g. in dialysis machines).  They are more common place for household and office drinking water in the USA but fall under restrictive regulation in the UK.  The main limitation of these filters is the flow rate and maintaining hygiene. There is also a significant amount of waste water which does not make it overly environmentally friendly.

 The necessity for appropriate Home Water Filtering Devices is  becoming clearer as many present-day water treatment amenities are becoming severely timeworn. A question that’s frequently asked is which water filtering method would be best applied to guarantee pure, healthy and clean water for you and your  family?  A close look at two popular water purifying systems could help you answer to this question.

 Here we will compare two of the most well known domestic water purifying system using reverse osmosis (sometimes referred to RO) and active carbon filter systems.  We will explore the purification process for both systems including the positives and negatives side of the methods, so you can  finally determine what’s best to use for you in providing fresh and clean water for our family members.

 With reverse osmosis system the water is almost always first treated with a sediment filter to get rid of  large particles and dirt.  Typically water then passes  through a couple of further  pre filters, to eliminate unstable organics  and further smaller particles out of the water. Finally the water gets to the reverse osmosis membrane which can help  clean away lead, minerals, inorganic substances, salt and others. Only some of  the water passes through the membrane and is purified. The remaining water not filtered , up to 60% is classed as waste and will require a drain. The water that is filtered then goes into a storing container. The storage container is where water is dispensed from and naturally as its dispenses further water is filtered refilling the storage vessel.

 The tiny holes of the Reverse Osmosis filters are prohibitive to most  kinds of natural substances like salt as well as other organic minerals. This means reverse osmosis is quite efficient at desalinating water as well as creating mineral-free water . When it comes to eliminating hazardous compounds and also purifying water to drink, this process could be considered wasteful and by removing so much from the water means it is not as natural as nature intended.  Many people by Bottles of what is classed as “Mineral Water” because they believe the Minerals have beneficial properties. Water treated via RO is vastly depleted of many of these minerals!

 Activated carbon filters are able to eliminate the molecularly elements as well as chemical compounds such as herbicides, chlorine and pesticides. They will generally leave natural minerals that give a bit “taste” to the water and also play an important role in the whole body system.

 The procedure for water filtering using Activated Carbon Filters is carried out simply by running the water through a granular layer appropriate Carbon media (such as a few phases of carbon as well as multimedia filters). The media quality will determine how much is removed and if high quality 0.5 micron carbon filters are used it is usual to use a pre filter so the fine pores do not quickly become blocked.  

 Activated Carbon Filter is a very effective water treatment system, but filters do need changing regularly , that said so will any pre-filters or carbon filters used in Reverse Osmosis . The membrane in reverse osmosis filtration will also require changing periodically according to the manufacturers guidelines.

 The negative sides of carbon filtration are really only down to quality, Reverse Osmosis will generally provide better filtered water but as mentioned perhaps o clean! Active Carbon filtering  is extremely cost effective and can take municipally provided water hat may have chlorine and possible other contaminants and produce good quality fresh  drinking water .

 We should stipulate that no filtration system should be fitted to water that is not known to be safe to drink without advice from an expert. There are also other filtration methods available.

Since placing the water Chiller products on the online shop we have had some reasonable interest in this product. The queries seem to fall into two different categories, technical  or performance related. I thought it may be useful to answer some

 Here are the most common two technical and performance  questions we have come across :

Q)  What filters do these Water chiller units use?

A) You can put whatever filter you want on these units, it is not built into the unit so you may need a clip to carefully fix onto the filter to a cupboard wall or the rear panel. The ¼” pipe feed can be fed direct into  our standard filters if you wish or any other ¼” fitting, alternatively you could get a filter head for a twist top filter if you wanted to. The filtration capability of the filter is completely up to you.

Q) How do I fix the supplied tap?

Fitting the tap is relatively straightforward, a hole in your work top will need to be drilled, all the measurements and instructions are included.  The tap is then threaded through from the top and screwed into a fitting on the underside which keeps it in place. The plumbing fittings then screw onto the fixed tap and connect to the outlet pipe from the water chiller unit.

Q) Can you clarify what the difference between the units are?

The low capacity water chiller is quoted as producing 5 litres of chilled water per hour whilst the Medium capacity  will produce 11.5 litres per hour. In short the x unit has a better/ greater chilling capacity. The exact performance will depend on the temperature of the water flowing into the unit and the flow rate. If you imagined pouring a bucket of already cold water  in the fridge it would remain cold and only alter in temperature slightly. If on the other hand you put a bucket of warm water in your fridge, this would take a lot longer to chill. This is the same with the water chiller units, if you put warmer water in it will not chill as quickly, the difference is that you are not likely to know  the temperature of the water going in.

Q) Will your medium capacity unit be sufficient for our restaurant/canteen?

This question needs a lot of clarification as a small restaurant who want to fill a few bottles/ glasses or jugs the answer is yes. In short it is all down to how many people are likely to use the water chiller will get in what sort of time period. A staff or school canteen where   you get a lot of people in a short space of time is not likely to be a good environment for either of these units, if you contact us we can discuss your requirements and find a suitable solution.

I hope this helps but please let us know if you have any more questions.