Here at Stine-Nichols Plumbing, our team has had the opportunity to provide commercial plumbing services to a number of businesses all around the Kansas City area. Furthermore, we’ve also been honored to have been able to work with businesses in a variety of different industries. Restaurants, office buildings, car dealerships, the list goes on! While the basic plumbing components (water heaters, faucets, etc) are all fairly consistent across these various industries, you can also safely say that each industry may have slightly different needs in regards to the many aspects of their plumbing system.
In this week’s blog post, we’re going to talk about a component that our team has installed several times over the years and that happens to be drinking fountains. It’s no surprise that they are extremely common at commercial facilities. Before we get into the advantages of them and why your commercial facility may want to consider having one installed, we would first like to say hello to anyone that may be visiting our blog for the first time. Welcome to Stine-Nichols Plumbing! We are a plumbing business that serves the entire Kansas City area, no matter if that be residential homes, commercial businesses or even new construction projects. If you live in or near the Kansas City area and need some help on a plumbing project, don’t hesitate to give us a call at (816) 348-3481. Now…let’s talk about drinking fountains in the commercial facility world!
What are your options?
As is the case with most things plumbing-related, you’ll notice that you do have options as to the unit that you purchase. While it may not be as many possibilities as faucets (for example), that doesn’t mean there is only one option to pick from! After all, just take a look through the drinking fountains on Elkay’s website. Elkay is certainly a household name in the industry and is a brand we feel confident recommending to our clients! When it comes to your commercial facility, you can browse through the various possibilities and ultimately decide what makes most sense for you!
For some, that may be the standard units that are attached to the wall. These come in many different styles and at varying price points. There are even units that can be activated by means of a sensor, thus being hands-free. Another added component that many local businesses love is the bottle filling stations. These obviously offer several unique benefits and we’ll be sure to highlight them in more detail later on in this blog post.
All in all, the point I wanted to emphasize with this opening section is the fact that commercial businesses do have a plethora of potential drinking fountain options to choose from!
What are the benefits of having a drinking fountain and/or bottle filling station installed?
As shown in the section above, drinking fountains come in all shapes and sizes. If you clicked the link above to check out Elkay’s website, you would have seen a first-hand example of that! With this purchase requiring an investment from your commercial facility, some of the first things that you are going to ask yourself is: Is it worth the purchase? What are the benefits of having one installed? Having installed numerous drinking fountains over the years, we’ll fill you in on some of the reasons why our customers love them.
Employees Love Them – As a business owner, you should know how important your employees are. Creating an environment that allows them to enjoy and excel at their job is a must for any successful business! Even though a drinking fountain with a bottle filling station won’t do this on its own, it can’t hurt! It’ll provide your employees with an easy tool to refill their water bottles throughout the day. As simple as that! Not to mention, you may even find your employees consuming more water too, which is always a good thing!
Environmentally-Friendly – Over the years, the plumbing industry has continued to place an emphasis on finding ways to make fixtures more efficient and reduce the amount of water/energy wasted. Low-flow fixtures are a great example of this! Well…by having bottle filling stations available, you’re encouraging employees to utilize reusable water bottles, thus preventing plastic waste in the process.
Less Germs Spread – Speaking of striving to make things more efficient and sustainable, that’s not the only item that has been emphasized in the plumbing world. Particularly with the Covid-19 pandemic starting in 2020, we’ve seen commercial facilities look for ways to limit the spread of germs. This is a major reason why touchless faucets have become extremely popular in the commercial world. While it’s not a guaranteed solution, it is one of many things you can do to keep the amount of germs spread to a minimum. Drinking fountains are the same way. While the standard units are still very popular, the bottle filling stations are mostly hands-free, as well as the touchless drinking fountains available.
Filtered Water – The final benefit that we would like to mention is the ability to have filtered water with your drinking fountain or bottle filling station. So…not only will your team have easy access to water to fill up their water bottles, but that will also be filtered water too so you won’t have to worry about any contaminants. A true win-win! Given the popularity of water filtration systems in the residential world, it’s no surprise that people want cleaner water and this will help you achieve it at your commercial facility. As a side note, when you have your drinking fountain installed, be sure to inquire about this feature. If there is a filter cartridge that will need to be replaced, you’ll want to know where you can purchase a new one and how you can install it.
To sum it up, there’s definitely a lot to like about modern-day drinking fountains and bottle filling stations. We’ve highlighted several of the benefits above, but it goes without saying that it can simply be nice to have them around your commercial facility. Particularly in office buildings where people are spending 8+ hours a day, it can be nice to have an easy way to fill up your water bottle with filtered water and not have to worry about constantly filling up the fridge with plastic water bottles or other drinks.
Drinking Fountain Installation in Kansas City
If you own or manage a commercial facility, does it have any drinking fountains installed? If so, what is the current state of those units? Are they functional and up-to-date or do they constantly experience issues and look a little dated? As evidenced by this blog post, facility owners have plenty of options nowadays when it comes to drinking fountains. Plus, we can safely say that the bottle filler components are quickly becoming extremely popular and your employees will also likely love having them available to use!
Need a new drinking fountain and/or bottle filling station installed for your business? If so, our team at Stine-Nichols Plumbing would love to help out! We’ve had the opportunity to work with hundreds of businesses all around the Kansas City area and that includes several drinking fountain (and bottle filling station) installations over the years! If you’re interested in receiving an estimate to have one installed at your commercial facility, don’t hesitate to give us a call at (816) 348-3481.