WATER Indispensable in 2022
Two water provision experts offer insight into the current demand for dispense products in the workplace and explore some of the outstanding features in modern-day solutions
T
he provision of potable drinking water in the workplace is and always has been important for health and wellbeing. In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, it is essential to follow
strict hygiene standards across the workplace and choosing water dispense products that offer users maximum protection and security has never been more important. Christina Avison, associate director – commercial at Zenith Global
says: “Recent innovation in the water dispense industry has therefore been focused on enhancing sanitation, hygiene, and safety to respond to consumer demand. With working patterns still affected by the virus outbreak reducing
the presence of employees in the workplace, the water dispense industry is adapting products to suit new working habits and conditions in 2022. Personalisation, enhanced functionality and touch-free are the leading technologies requested as more people split their weekly working hours between the office and home. Meeting water needs at home is not expected to drive increased
water dispense solutions for the residential market. Since 2020, the domestic channel has only provided significant growth in markets where this was already established such as Belgium, Czechia, Hungary, Spain and the US despite the increased number of workers forced home by lockdowns. Furthermore, the growing sustainability issue on the usage of
plastic drinks bottles will continue to shape the development of the water dispense industry in 2022. Consumer awareness on environmental matters is notably rising and a growing number of consumers – both at home and at work – are opting for refillable water bottles over single-use plastic. Suppliers in the water dispense industry are responding with more efficient and affordable units with higher capacities to satisfy larger receptacles.” Christina’s insights have been obtained through Zenith Global’s published reports on the Water Dispense markets in Europe and the US.
The modern-day dispenser Water dispensers will be essential in a post- pandemic world for workers both on site and on the go and there are some stand out features in modern day solutions, as Zerica’s UK business development manager, Gemma Tuxford, points out. The most advanced solutions involve using an individual’s mobile phone to connect directly to the machine via Bluetooth. Users want convenience, speed and safety with enough
dispensing space for their refill bottles. The development of more sophisticated mobile apps for touchless dispensing and payment is a very exciting area. Users can view information about consumption usage patterns and set preferences. The machine can ‘recognise’ the user and
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immediately know what to dispense and payments can also be authorised via mobile. This area is ripe for innovation, however, acceptance of mobile phone dispensing could be a barrier as the user needs to download an app for what may be just a single use. NFC tags (keyrings, cards, embedded in bottle tops etc.) are another touch-free method of dispensing and payment with the card/tag used as a wallet facility and some basic information such as usage data and personal preferences collected. Creating a touchless dispenser can be as straightforward as retrofitting pedals to an existing machine. Creating new machines with contactless buttons is also relatively simple. Machines that rely on using a mobile phone to dispense are more complex from an industrial design and a software development point of view and water dispensers manufacturers have not traditionally been heavily involved in software. Creating such dispensers as the market inevitably moves forward in this direction going into 2022 will require them to invest in industrial machinery and development of staff skills. Zerica is currently specialising in hands-free dispensing and has achieved recognition for bringing ‘an innovative range of light equipment to the UK market’ – a range that now includes units with foot pedal operated, contactless ‘hover’ buttons, and mobile app- enabled operation. Some exciting developments are coming from innovative use of
the IoT and the bi-directional communication. Monitoring and management of machines can be done entirely remotely and their IoT-enabled touchless dispensers using this ground-breaking bi- directional communication can be serviced remotely. Technicians are able to connect to carry out non-intrusive, speedy and ecologically-friendly technical interventions. Now that home working is more prevalent, from wherever you
decide to work, this technology allows you to change target temperature and portion size alerts based on real-time usage for filter and CO2 canister replacement, and gives reminders when a flush or periodic maintenance is due. You can also, run a diagnostic and perform a quick servicing check.
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