The Water Delivery Company is happy to announce that a number of company records were broken in the past month.  Much of this was due to the soaring temperatures that London experienced towards the end of June, with one day it being hotter in the capital than it was in Bangkok.

This led to the Met office issuing warnings about the heatwave, with recommendations to wear sunscreen and to drink plenty of water.

And we are happy to say that our customers definitely heeded the advice, as the demand for extra water cooler bottles was huge.  In the last week of June the Water Delivery Company broke it’s previous record for number of 19 litre bottles sold in a week (set in July 2006) by 16%.

The record for number of 19 litre bottles sold in one month (set in July 2007) was also beaten by a huge 22%.

If you have any questions about The Water Delivery Company, or this blog post, please feel free to leave a comment.

Water Coolers for Health, Water In The News the water delivery company, water coolers

How much water should people drink? The age old question – asked and answered regularly  by water companies, nutritionists, doctors and governments across the world.

Water – as with other substances –  is necessary for all life on Earth. Humans can survive for several weeks without food, but for only a few days without water. A constant water supply to the human body is needed to replenish the fluids lost through normal physiological activities, such as respiration, perspiration and urination. Furthermore, water is a key element in the growth and maintenance of our bodies, due to the reliance of a number of biological processes on it to continue working. Drinking enough water is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle.

How much water should I drink?

It is generally estimated that the average adult within the UK it is estimated that the average person should try to drink six to eight glasses of water per day, or up to two litres. The body should also absorb extra water from a healthy diet containing fruit and vegetables.

The source of this water is not an important factor although use of a water cooler within a work or home environment will encourage people to drink more water. We would of course recommend drinking our spring water.

People still hydrate without drinking water 

Of course, the body gets water not only from drinks, but also through food. Some fruit and vegetables have high water content such as melons, apples, oranges, pineapples, tomatoes, carrots and grapes. Therefore to get a balanced view of how much water people should drink, we would need to look carefully at the general diet of the individual.

Living conditions may change the optimal amount of water

The exact amount of water a human needs also depends on the condition of the subject, the amount of physical exercise, and on the environmental temperature and humidity in which the individual functions. We can make general statements on ideal water consumption levels if we look at general weather/humidity factors in a certain area of the world – but the individual needs will ultimately be governed by the lifestyle and actions of each human.

For further information on the  health benefits of drinking enough water and details about our watercoolers and spring water, go to our main website – www.thewaterdeliverycompany.com.

This blog is for information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your local doctor or other health professionals. Please call 0845 006 3309 for further details.

Water Coolers for Health drinking water, Health Benefits

The Water Delivery Company has been doing some work inspired by the idea of one of our competitors, Water for Work and home who are a bottled company based in Kent who have launched an innovative Water Wellbeing kiosk for their clients. Essentially a stand that is placed in the clients offices, the Wellpoint allows employees to measure the health of staff according to key health points such as blood pressure. As far as innovations for an industry this move towards monitoring and assisting  health of staff is one of the best innovations we have seen in the UK water cooler industry in many years.

A water cooler client we have had in the centre of London for over five years takes a similar approach to the wellbeing of their staff and according to the HR manager over this time they have managed to bring down the average sick days per employee by over 35%. This has an obvious cost implication but the HR manager was keen to point out that the savings are far greater. We have benefited greatly from this initiative as well as they have increasingly moved towards having one water cooler per 15 employees – from an initial position five years ago of one per 35 employees. As the client points out the cost per water cooler is low compared with the benefit in sick days – although she is obviously not saying that water coolers are the only reason for this drop.

How much water should employees drink?

Impossible for us to say, but we  can work back from the average amount of water employees should generally drink. Research done by the BBC points towards between 1.5 litres and 2.5 litres per day of drinking water which typically they obtain from home and work.

Each office is different e.g. some staff can often be away from the office frequently or clients often visit and need drinking water. We suggest estimating to aim for  1.5 litres per employee per day but this can change if some staff are often away from the office or clients often visit. 

An important consideration can also be the proximity of staff to a water cooler and we often find that the provision of water coolers themselves is inadequate. If staff are not near a water cooler they are unlikely to move around the office to solely get drinking water. In 2008 we are put forward a trial allowing customers to trial an additional water cooler cost free for a month to see if staff found it easier to drink water – although it was taken up by less than 5% of our customers those that did trial the cooler kept it in 85% of the instances. 

Customers do not need to see this as an extra expense though. Our range of plumbed bottleless water coolers means customers only need to pay a fixed sum per week for staff drinking water, and if you cannot fit a plumbed cooler in due to mains water considerations our range of bottled water coolers allow customer to get water to any area where staff work.

For further information on the benefits of water at work for staff and your cost of sick days please call us on 0845 006 3309.

Water Coolers for Health Bottled Water Cooler, Health Benefits

Legislation that all employers should bear in mind

In the UK, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 all employers have a legal duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees. Specific regulations apply to the provision of clean drinking water and eating facilities, but there is no legal duty for employers to provide food. Employers are required to provide “suitable and sufficient” rest facilities which include arrangements to protect people from the discomfort of tobacco smoke and allow them to eat their meals.

Under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 employers must provide an adequate supply of “wholesome” drinking water for all people at work in the workplace. This should be readily accessible and accompanied by cups or be of a water-jet design.

Water Coolers for Health Regulations

Promoting the benefits of Water@Work has been an initiative obviously close to the interests of The Water Delivery Company. It is however firstly a legal obligation for all employers in the UK and also strongly supported by major unions such as Unison  and leading public sector employers.

This detail below is an interesting section from their website about water for employers – and can be read alongside the article on health on our company website.

Promoting good health in the home, workplace and school and taking steps to ensure this happens is not always so easy as it sounds. 

However, one of the best and simplest ways towards a healthier lifestyle is to drink more water, at least eight glasses of tap water a day. In every aspect of our daily lives, water is the indispensable ingredient. It is so much an everyday part of life, we tend to take water for granted and often use it wastefully, (we get a lot of rain so we have plenty). Its treatment, from source to tap, is however, both complex and expensive and what we in the western world use largely without thinking, is a rare and valuable commodity in the world’s hot countries.

There is no doubt that good health in the workplace saves money. It is a medical fact that well nourished and hydrated people are more resistant to illness and will recover more quickly if they do become ill. Just a 2% loss of body water can result in a 10% drop in physical and mental performance. By increasing water intake to eight glasses a day, alongside eating a selection of five portions of fruit and vegetables a day can reduce the risk of deaths from chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and cancer by up to 20%. It is a business fact that 33 million working days are lost every year, due to occupational ill health, and sickness absence costs employers at least £11 billion each year. More and more businesses are promoting drinking more water to their staff and realising the healthy benefits to business of increased productivity and a decrease in sickness absence.  Both bottled water coolers and bottleless water coolers are ideal ways of ensuring the general welfare of your staff.

Water Coolers for Health Regulations

Did you know that April 2009 will be Bowel Cancer Awareness Month? During the month we will be working with the charity Bowel Cancer UK to raise awareness of this disease. Drinking plenty of water can be a great aid to avoidance of this condition and thats where we come in – along with the fact that we have over 2000 water coolers in the Greater London area we also have thousands of customers – and its these water drinking clients we’ll be targetting – making sure the information about prevention and detection gets through!

Watch this space for our plans!

Water Coolers for Health Health Benefits

A year ago, 88-year-old Jean Lavender used to find walking any distance a struggle.

Now she is keen to get outside for a walk most days.

And she puts the transformation down to the most simple of medicines – water.

She is one of a group of residents at a care home in Suffolk who have been encouraged to increase their intake of water.

And they have all reported dramatic results.

Jean says she feels 20 years younger.

“I feel more alert – more cheerful too. I’m not a miserable person, but it’s added a sort of zest.”

Staff at The Martins care home in Bury St Edmunds started a “water club” for their residents last summer.

Residents were encouraged to drink eight to 10 glasses of water a day, water coolers were installed, and they were each given a jug for their room.

They report significant improvements in health as a result – many fewer falls, fewer GP call-outs, a cut in the use of laxatives and in urinary infections, better quality of sleep, and lower rates of agitation among residents with dementia.

Dehydration

Doctors have long highlighted the risks of dehydration for elderly people. It can cause dizziness and potentially serious falls, constipation, and confusion.

While most people’s systems can adjust to insufficient water, frail old people are far less equipped to cope.

So when Wendy Tomlinson, a former nurse, took over the management of the charity-run home, she suspected that drinking more water might help the residents feel better.

Even she has been surprised by how much difference it’s made, though.

“It’s been fantastic,” she said. “The whole home buzzes now; there isn’t that period after lunch when everyone goes off to sleep.”

For Baroness Greengross, a cross-bench peer, it reinforces a conviction she has had for some time now – that many old people simply are not drinking enough, and it is harming their health.

She wants to see tougher regulations in care homes across the UK, so that staff have to make sure residents drink enough.

“We hear a great deal about malnutrition among old people,” she says.

“But we forget about the need for them to have enough water. It shouldn’t be very difficult to change the habits of care staff.”

Water Coolers for Health Health Benefits, water coolers