Where to Place Office Water Dispensers

Why Should you Have Water Coolers in an Office?

As an employer, you have a duty of care to your staff, and this means ensuring they have a healthy place to work. Hydration is important for health, and this includes your employees' health. Water coolers not only allow your staff to stay hydrated and so healthy but can also affect the productivity of your team.

Drinking water promotes productivity and has lots of other benefits for your team. And a healthy, happy team is a productive team.

In fact, there are loads of benefits to having water coolers in an office, and not just for your employees. Having office water coolers is a win-win situation.

Where You Should Place Office Water Dispensers

There is no rule for where you should place your office water dispensers or even how many you should have. We'd recommend having plenty of hydration stations, and in several areas to make hydration easy for your employees. Having just one water dispenser for an office will lead to people having to leave their desks for a while each time they want a drink, which can lead to either less productivity or employees neglecting their hydration. Therefore, it's best to have water dispensers in several rooms for easy access. Some areas you should place office water coolers include:

Reception Area

The reception area is normally a busy place, where you have colleagues and visitors arriving who might be thirsty from their journey in. Having a water cooler in reception allows easy access to water and can help visitors feel at ease as they wait for their appointment. This will also allow staff to fill up water bottles as they arrive and leave the office.

Break Room

Encourage your employees to take a drink during their lunch or a break by having water coolers in the break room. As "water cooler chat" can create social hubs, the break room is the perfect location for this.

Kitchen

The kitchen is a logical place for a water cooler. Whether inside the kitchen, or nearby, this can encourage your employees to grab some water whilst they're grabbing their lunch or a hot drink. If you don't have room for a water dispenser in the kitchen, you could always invest in a tap, which can include boiling water, so you don't even need a kettle for your employees to make hot drinks.

Open-Plan Offices

In open-plan offices, having several water dispensers scattered around can encourage workers to stay hydrated. Simply being able to see the hydration station can remind workers to grab some water. And having a few scattered around means everyone can easily reach a water dispenser.

Additional Considerations for Water Dispenser Placement

When it comes to where to put water dispensers in an office, it's not just the rooms where they are placed that are important, there are other considerations to take into account too. Here are some additional thoughts that need to be contemplated:

Visibility

Making sure every employee can see a hydration station can encourage them to drink. Having office water coolers visible is a simple reminder to top up water. The visibility of water coolers is key.

Accessibility

Making sure the water coolers are accessible to everyone is also an important consideration. Think about how far each employee must go to refill. If too far, they are likely to delay getting a drink if they are busy. On the other hand, those nearest the water dispenser may be distracted if there are constantly people around it. Having water coolers easily accessible for everyone, but not too close to workers is a fine balance.

Cleanliness

Placing a water dispenser in a dirty or dusty area can cause the water to become contaminated, which defeats the point of providing clean, filtered water. So, ensuring water dispensers are in a place that is regularly cleaned will guard against any potential contamination.

Keeping Out of Direct Sunlight

Having water coolers in direct sunlight is a bad idea. Sunlight will cause the water to heat up, affecting the taste of water and encouraging mould to grow. So you need to either keep water dispensers in the shade or ensure any bottles of water are covered.

Hazardous Placements

Water dispensers often need power to work, so the cables can cause a tripping hazard. And free-standing water dispensers can cause a hazard if someone is in a rush. For this reason, placing water dispensers against a wall is normally a good idea. Another option here is to invest in countertop water dispensers.

Near a Plug

As water dispensers normally require electricity to work, placing them near a plug socket is ideal. This means they can easily be plugged in without cables trailing all over the office or extension cables being needed.

If you're looking to ensure your office team have access to hydration, we can help. With a range of options for offices including freestanding water dispensers and taps, all of which offer a variety of water types, including sparkling and hot, we can cater to your office hydration needs. Take a look at our office water dispensers or contact us if you have any queries on what would be the best water solution for your office.

Where to Place Water Coolers in an Office