Delivered water can not only save you time, but it can also keep your water tasting clean and fresh either by itself or for coffee and tea. When your employees are at home, their drinking water choice is up to them, but at the office, you can offer them office drinking water that you know will taste good and be available on demand.

Water delivery can include large 3- or 5-gallon bottles or it can be individual bottled waters. Delivered water can be customized to suit the needs of your office. Depending on the number of people consuming the water and where you plan on placing it within the office, each office's drinking water delivery will take these things into consideration. Consider the following when making the most of delivered water:

1. When deciding how much delivered water to order, count not only your employees but others who may also be visiting your office.

2. Consider placing delivered drinking water in break rooms, waiting rooms and conference rooms.

3. To make delivered water even more convenient, offer smaller, individual bottles to take on the go.

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Make sure to include customers, business associates and other guests in your delivered water total

Underestimating the amount of delivered water you need on a monthly basis can be a problem for many reasons. Most water delivery companies deliver every four weeks. If you run out of office drinking water in the meantime, you can't quickly get a replenishment. Overestimating the amount of water you will need, to be on the safe side, will save you a trip to the grocery store or having a dry water cooler. Counting all of the bodies that come in and out of your office on a regular basis, not just employees, will help you to estimate.

I recommend: Ice Mountain Delivery delivers bottled water in different quantities to homes and offices. It also has a helpful chart for estimating how much water you will need. Find the chart under the Helpful Tools section on the right hand side of the webpage. Places like Office Coffee have questionnaires that will help them estimate for you the amount of water you will need on a monthly basis.

Consider the placement of your water coolers when signing up with a water delivery service

Depending on your business, you may have the need for several water coolers around the building. In a doctor's office you may consider having one in the employee break room and one in the waiting room for patients. If you own an industrial business with a large warehouse and offices, you may consider placing a water cooler in the hallway of each floor of the building and in the break rooms. It is important that if you are going to offer office water delivery services in the workplace that you make it accessible to everyone.

I recommend: By filling out the online inquiry, Water To Go will help you estimate the cost of your monthly water cooler delivery charge based on the number of coolers you will need at the office. DrinkMore Water is a delivered water provider in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metro area.

Consider having individual bottled waters added to your monthly office water service

The large 3- and 5-gallon water coolers are convenient when just passing by on the way to your office or when offering a glass of water at your board meeting. But, what about when you and your employees are running out to sales calls or on your way to a meeting downtown? Carrying individual water bottles will allow employees to grab a bottle -- with a lid -- and go.

I recommend: Culligan Bottled Water carries delivered water in large quantities and in individual portions. Desert Springs Bottled Water will not only deliver water in both large and small bottles but will customize the label on your individual water bottles to serve as a marketing tool as well.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Think about offering other products with your delivered water such as tea bags and instant coffee. This will give your employees and customers a choice of beverages that will all use the bottled water.

Office water service has gone way beyond water cooler delivery. It's no longer that simple. It seems that a new brand and flavor of specialty water comes onto the market constantly. While most offices have the standard bottled water delivery service, yours can stand apart by offering specialty drinking water delivery. By doing so, you're providing employees with a delicious incentive to live a healthy life.

Here's what you need to keep in mind when ordering specialty water:

1. There are more water delivery service options coming onto the market on a regular basis.
2. Adding flavored and mineral water to your office can be as easy as stocking some powder packets or as involved as adding a flavored filtration system.
3. It doesn't have to cost much to offer specialty water to your employees.

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Look into specialty water options offered by water delivery companies

Providers of water delivery service are now offering a plethora of waters to meet the demands of the marketplace. There are the tasty, flavored brands and the mineral-enriched waters. You no longer have to rely on office water delivery services. Instead, you can order water online and have it shipped right to your business.

I recommend: Aqua Maestro boasts that it stocks the largest selection of bottled water. Use Aqua Maestro's Water-Ware to find the perfect water for your office. Choose between water infused with calcium, potassium, magnesium and sodium.

Add some flavor to the office drinking water delivery

Water flavors include Lime, Mango Grapefruit, Pomegranate-Tangerine, Tropical Punch and Peppermint, just to name a few. The flavoring adds just a touch of fruity taste, while usually keeping the calories low.

I recommend: Hint makes flavored water that can be ordered in bulk. You can also get lemon-flavored delivered drinking water from Staples. Just type in your zip code to see what's available in your area. Water delivery companies like BevTrends sell vitamin fiber water.

Mix up your company vending machines

Talk to your vending machine company. Many soda machines carry water, too. Instead of plain water, ask the vender to substitute flavored water.

I recommend: Dasani water comes in lemon, strawberry and raspberry. Aquafina comes in wild berry, raspberry and citrus blend.

Add some flavor with minimal cost

One way to get flavored water while keeping your current water delivery service is to order flavor packets. They're calorie and sugar-free. Keep the packets in the break room near the coffee and tea and let your employees flavor their own water.

I recommend: Water Sensations Liqui-packs come in berry, grape, lemon, kiwi-strawberry, peach and orange. Save money by buying them by the case for $36.00. True Lemon packets add zing to bottled water.

Turn your tap water into flavored water

Proctor and Gamble now offers flavor cartridges to go with their Water Filtration System. Hook it up to a faucet and your employees can get flavored water right from the tap.

I recommend: Pur Flavor Options include strawberry, peach and raspberry.

Delivered water can come in a variety of forms. The most popular form is by large 3- or 5-gallon bottles, but it can come in the form of smaller individual water bottles as well. The price of office water delivery depends mostly on the number of people in your office. Water delivery service plans can either be purchased either per water bottle or include a specific number of bottles to be delivered each month, often for a reduced rate per bottle.

On average, each 5-gallon bottle runs around $7 to $8 each for home deliveries. However, there is often a discount on office accounts because the water delivery companies know you will be ordering multiple bottles at a time. Office prices generally run around $6 a piece. Most times the water cooler dispenser is included in the monthly bottled water delivery service fee. Consider the following when evaluating the pricing and costs of delivered water:

1. How much office drinking water do you think your office will go through on a monthly basis?

2. What type of water would best suit your office?

3. Does your office need individual water bottles as a part of the delivered drinking water?

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Estimate how much bottled water you will need from your water delivery company

Most water delivery companies divide their office deliveries into small offices (one to 24 employees) to large offices (25-plus employees). This will give you a general place to start in deciding how much water you will need per month. For example, an office of eight to 10 people will likely go through six to eight 5-gallon water bottles per month. In this case, your monthly drinking water delivery would cost around $45 per month. For offices of 21 to 25 people, you will likely need seventeen to twenty 5-gallon water bottles, bringing your total closer to $100 per month. Often office water delivery services will offer deals for returning bottles or ordering a certain amount of water.

I recommend: Crystal Springs offers both 3- and 5-gallon water bottles. The price of the water dispenser is included in the service fee. Ice Mountain Direct delivers in 5-gallon quantities.

Decide what type of delivered water you want for the office

The price of a water delivery service is also based upon the type of water you choose. Purified and spring water cost about $1 less per 5-gallon bottle than distilled and fluoridated water, which run around $8 each. When choosing a water service provider, inquire about the types of water it offers if that is important to your office. Some providers only have one option.

I recommend: Crystal Spring (not to be confused with Crystal Springs) offers either spring water or distilled. Poland Spring carries exclusively spring water.

Determine if your office needs single-serve water bottles in your water delivery

In addition to the large quantity containers, your office may have a need for individual water bottles as well. Most water delivery companies offer the smaller bottles as a part of their monthly service plans. These run between $9 and $15 per case of 24 depending on the size of the single bottles.

I recommend: You can find 16.9-ounce sport water bottles at Triple Springs. FIJI Water delivers only by individual bottles. A case of FIJI water runs more like $30 for 24 bottles.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Keep in mind that water delivery companies often only deliver in certain parts of the country. Some special offers are also only offered in specific regions.

With numerous options to choose from water delivery services can be a blessing to businesses. But how do you know what type of delivered water would best benefit your company? Should you purchase bottles or a gallon container? Would filtered water be better than fluoridated? Unless you know some specific key terms, you could end up buying water that isn't fully suited for your needs. Learn some of the common terms before taking the plunge into water delivery.

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Bottled water

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is responsible the bottled-water industry and ensures that all water is safe for consumers to drink. It's vital that the water delivery service you use adheres to the FDA's guidelines.

I recommend: Visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for safety facts on bottled water.

Fluoridated water

Fluoride is a chemical that was originally added to water to reduce tooth decay. Bottled water manufacturers are not required to disclose their water's fluoride amount, but you can always inquire about the percentage. There are also companies that provide specific fluoridated bottled water.

I recommend: Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn about bottled water and fluoride.

Flavored water

Flavored water is exactly that: water with a certain flavor. You can choose among flavors such as lemon, lime, mint or berry. Some water delivery companies provide the flavoring, others recommend that you purchase individual packets and add the flavors yourself.

I recommend: Visit Flavored Waters to learn more about types of flavored water.

Spring water

Spring water comes from an underground formation that allows water to flow freely to the surface. To ensure that it qualifies as spring water, it must be collected only at the spring or at an underground formation that feeds into the spring.

I recommend: Learn more about spring water and its classes at FineWaters Media.

Purified water

Purified water has had its share of filtration, with bacteria and dissolved solids removed during different processing times. This type of water can oftentimes be labeled as distilled drinking water. Purified water is the most common type of water sold in bottles.

I recommend: Visit Nestle Waters North America to learn more about the processes used to achieve purified water.

Mineral water

Mineral water does not have any extra minerals added to it. It is less popular than most other kinds of water.

I recommend: Visit the International Bottled Water Association to learn what makes mineral water unique from other bottled waters.