Anyone have a drinking water fountain?

[DFB]

Snapped a pic of ours today...I really like them. Water is always instantly cold, and they are quality units.

 

[EddieWalker]

If it was closer to a hundred bucks, I would be all over that idea. But for the price of a case of water, and how easy it is to carry water around to where I'm working, compared to walking to a fountain, I'm gonna stick with either bottled water, or a jug full of ice water.

 

[AxleHub]

I'll chime in and add that bottled water, while needed in some conditions, is an abomination in general. In a world running out of potable water, it take about 4 gallons of clean water to make each and every plastic liter water bottle... and the litter from the discarded bottles drives me nuts. Come down to Baltimore's scenic Inner Harbor area, and where the covered over streams flow into the harbor, you will see where thousands of those bottles end up. I think two or three "cleaner barges" stay busy trying to gather the flotsam and jetsam.

Varmint, I suppose some parts of the country are behind and need to catchup to technology changes. . . in WI we recycle plastics so we don't have buildup on roads and streams. Even rural garbage collections recycle. And as a results communities actually get paid for their plastics instead of paying to collect and eliminate it.

Sizing is also important. 1/2 liter bottles are incredibly cheap to produce while liter bottles are many times more expensive to produce in both money and resources.

Generally the water quality in the Upper midwest is very high unless it is coming directly from the Great Lakes. There are many water bottling companies in western/northern wi and eastern mn. I find water coming from these areas has a clean fresh taste while other locations have a metal taste to me (no, not iron).

 

[varmint]

Axle, you may be correct in the .5 liter vs 1 liter bottle resource investment. I am not saying bottled water doesn't have its place, but too many times it is not needed- a refillable container would be better.

We too have recycling, but the idiots who finish their food or beverage (or just decide they don't want any more) and mindlessly toss the container out an open vehicle window, or over their shoulders, are all too common around here. I often hike a mile or two into a beautiful trout stream area, only to find discarded bottles and beer cans. Why bother to go to a nice place if you don't care how it looks?? I lived in Indiana for many years, in an area where ground water had so much dissolved calcium that people were getting stones in their tear ducts! Now that was a place where bottled water might be a good idea?

 

[AxleHub]

Axle, you may be correct in the .5 liter vs 1 liter bottle resource investment. I am not saying bottled water doesn't have its place, but too many times it is not needed- a refillable container would be better.

The problem with refillable containers is where to get the good water to put in them. Currently thete are too many states that have poor quality municipal water. A little soluable iron is fine . . . But the cloudiness and taste and even the smell has deteriorated to nearly 2nd world country status in too many areas. They run it thru water softeners and iron filters and active carbon filters and it still tastes like fish water .

I made the mistake in Ohio to buy bottled water that came from Ohio . . and while it was filtered to "clear color" . . it had a decided metal taste as eell as a soft water taste.

 

[kenmac]

I have an Oasis water cooler in my shop..Everyone loves it ! Mine is a free standing unit Not wall mount

 

[beeforty]

I use a camel pack type back pack water container that is easy to fill with ice and water. Holds 1/2 gal? has a hose to suck on with a check valve and a adjustable magnet to keep the tip from flopping around when working. get one that runners use and they have pockets for snacks and your cell phone. Like it better than a bottle on my waist or forget where I left my bottle.

 

[ALinCarolina]

Here is what I installed. When our kids were young we built a rec room with pool table, etc. and added the basket ball goal. Painted the lines, etc. Sometimes there would be 8 or 10 teenage boys over playing so instead of drinking out of the garden hose or constantly coming inside they just used the fountain. Not refrigerated but still pretty cool. If you install one be sure to have a below ground valve box with a tee and couple valves to be able to drain in in freezing weather.

 

[Cord]

Around here, you go skinny dipping in "water fountains" and drink from "bubblers".

 

[smokin aces]

Just a quick tip be sure to install one of those inexspensive charcoal water filters you put in line like for ref. ice makers, they really cleanup the taste of tap water, and last for long time.