When installing a drinking fountain in a renovation project, there may not always be a water source nearby. A water cooler would be the more practical choice. In a recent educational renovation, we specified an Elkay EZH20 Water Cooler which has a faster fill rate than a traditional drinking fountain, and is smaller in size than a traditional water cooler. With the unit being in the center core of the building, a traditional drinking fountain would have only been able to provide water at room-temperature, since there is quite a distance to the nearest water source.
Although the Elkay EZH20 is a wall-mounted unit, we framed a small alcove for the water cooler to fit into in order to keep the required floor space clearance in the corridor. We made sure to leave room on each side for the side pushbar use. The client also chose to include the optional bottle filling station that attaches to the unit, in order to help minimize disposable plastic bottle waste. The unit also has an innovative ticker that counts the number of 12 oz. bottles saved from landfills for refrigerated units.
