Watercooler

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Awatercoolerorwaterdispenserisadevicethatcoolsanddispenseswater.Theyaregenerally
brokenupintwocategories:bottlelessandbottledwatercoolers.Bottlelesswatercoolersarehookedup
toawatersupply,whilebottledwatercoolersrequiredelivery(orselfpickup)ofwaterinlargebottles
fromvendors.

Contents
1Dispensertypes
1.1Wallmounted
1.2Bottomloadwaterdispenser
1.3Tabletopwaterdispenser
1.4Directpipingwaterdispenser
1.5Freestanding
2Watersourceandpurification
2.1Bottle
2.2Plumbedwithpurification
2.2.1Filtration
3Coolingandheatingmethods
4Watercoolereffect
5Seealso
6References

Dispensertypes
Wallmounted
Thewallmountedtypeisconnectedtothebuilding'swater
supplyforacontinuoussupplyofwaterandelectricitytoruna
refrigerationunittocooltheincomingwater,andtothe
building'swastedisposalsystemtodisposeofunusedwater.
Inthestandardwallmountedcooler,alsocommonlyreferredto
asawaterfountainordrinkingfountain,asmalltankinthe
machineholdschilledwatersotheuserdoesnothavetowaitfor
Wallmountedwaterdispensers
chilledwater.Waterisdeliveredbyturningorpressingabutton
onaspringloadedvalvelocatedonthetopoftheunit,thatturns
offthewaterwhenreleased.Somedevicesalsoofferalargebuttononthefrontorside.Wateris
deliveredinastreamthatarchesup,allowingtheusertodrinkdirectlyfromthetopofthestreamof
water.Thesedevicesusuallydispensewaterdirectlyfromthemunicipalwatersupply,withouttreatment
orfiltering.

Bottomloadwaterdispenser

Themostcommonwaterdispensersaretheonesthathavethebottleonthetop.Thebottomloadwater
dispensereliminatestheneedtolifttheheavywaterbottles.Insteadthewaterbottleisplacedatthe
bottomofthedispenser.[1]

Tabletopwaterdispenser
Therearealsosmallerversionsofthewaterdispenserswherethedispensercanbeplaceddirectlyontop
ofatableforservingasmallernumberofpeople.

Directpipingwaterdispenser
Waterdispenserscanbedirectlyconnectedtotheinhousewater
sourceforcontinuousdispensingofhotandcolddrinkingwater.

Freestanding
Afreestandingdesigngenerallyinvolvesbottlesofwaterplaced
spoutdownintothedispensingmachine.
Tabletoporkitchenworktopversionsareavailablewhichutilise
readilyavailablefiveliterwaterbottlesfromsupermarkets.
Thesecoolersuseairpumpstopushthewaterintothecooling
chamberandPeltierdevicestochillthewater.
Anewdevelopmentwithinthewatercoolermarketistheadvent
ofcountertopapplianceswhichareconnectedtothemainsand
provideaninstantsupplyofnotonlychilledwaterbutalso
boilinghotandhotwater.

Freestandingwatercoolerwithbottle

Watersourceandpurification
Bottle
Toinstallthebottle,thebottleistippedupsidedownandsetontothedispenseraprobepuncturesthe
capofthebottleandallowsthewatertoflowintothemachine'sinternalreservoir.Thesegravity
poweredsystemshaveadevicetodispensewaterinacontrolledmanner.
Thesemachinescomeindifferentsizesandvaryfromtableunits,intendedforoccasionalusetofloor
mountedunitsintendedforheavieruse.Bottledwaternormallyisdeliveredtothehouseholdorbusiness
onaregularbasis,whereemptybottlesareexchangedforfullones.Thebottlesizevarieswiththesize
oftheunit,withthelargerversionsintheUSusing5USgallon(19L)bottles.Thisisalsothemost
commonsizeelsewhere,labelledas18.9litresincountriesthatusethemetricsystem.Theseunits
usuallydonothaveaplacetodumpexcesswater,onlyofferingasmallbasintocatchminorspills.On
thefront,aleverorpushbuttondispensesthewaterintoacupheldbeneaththespigot.
Whenthewatercontainerisempty,itisliftedoffthetopofthedispenser,andautomaticallysealsto
preventanyexcesswaterstillinthebottlefromleaking.

Plumbedwithpurification

Plumbedwatercoolersusetapwaterandthereforedonotneedbottles.Usuallysomemethodof
purificationisused.
Filtration
Filtrationmethodsincludereverseosmosis,ionexchangeandactivatedcarbon.

Coolingandheatingmethods
Usuallyunitsofferarefrigerationfunctiontochillthewater.Someversionsalso
haveaseconddispenserthatdeliversroomtemperaturewaterorevenheated
waterthatcanbeusedfortea,hotchocolateorotheruses.Thewaterinthe
alternatehottapisgenerallyheatedwithaheatingelementandstoredinahot
tank(muchlikethetraditionalhotwaterheatersusedinresidentialhomes).
Additionally,thehottapisusuallyequippedwithapushinsafetyvalveto
preventburnsfromanaccidentalorinadvertentpressingofthelever.

Watercoolereffect
Awatercoolereffectisaphenomenon,occurringwhenemployeesata
workplacegatheraroundtheofficewatercoolerandchat.Itisasynonymfor
gatheringandconnectingpeopleinacertainenvironment(e.g.theoffice).When
atelevisionprogram,likeasoapoperaorseries,istalkedaboutamongmany
people(mostlyrelatedtoguessingwhatwillhappeninthenextepisode)itcan
besaidthattheprogramhasawatercoolereffect.

Seealso
Drinkingfountain
Vendingmachine
CocaColaFreestyle

Amodernwater
coolerdispensing
coldwater,hot
waterandboiling
water

References
1. "WaterDispenserSingapore"
(http://www.pereocean.com/sg/waterdispensersingapore.php).
PereOcean.RetrievedJanuary25,2015.

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