Drinking water fountains are a great addition to any building or public space. They help keep your visitors, customers and employees healthy and hydrated. They provide a place for people to gather and socialize. But drinking fountains, especially an outdoor drinking fountain, can be tricky to properly install, and if they are not maintained properly, they can easily break and require repairs.

To learn more about making the most of drinking fountains, take a few minutes and read through this guide. It will help you:

1. Get your drinking fountain professionally installed.

2. Get your drinking fountain professionally repaired.

3. Get parts for your commercial water fountains.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Properly install a drinking fountain

When you are putting in new drinking fountains, it is best to have them professionally installed. This will ensure the fountain is operating at the proper pressure and temperature and will head off any problems that could lead to expensive repairs.

I recommend: Drinking fountain manufacturer Halsey Taylor has a searchable list of authorized service shops on its website. Just use the drop down menu to select the state you're located in. The Building Trades Directory will help you find a plumbing contractor that can install your water fountains.

Properly repair a drinking fountain

Repairs on water drinking fountains can be complicated, especially if the problem involves the cooling unit. So unless you have someone on staff who is familiar with fixing water fountains, you may want to call a professional. Just make sure to find someone who is authorized to do warranty work, if the water fountain is still under warranty.

I recommend: Water Treatment Technologies is a factory-authorized repair shop for most major brands of water fountains, including Oasis, Halsey Taylor and Sunroc. The shop serves the Phoenix area. If you're in the Tampa, Florida, area, give a call to Conley Water Cooler Service. The shop is factory authorized to do warranty and nonwarranty repairs on most major brands.

Find the right parts for a drinking fountain

If the repair job is not complicated, your in-house technician may be able to do the job, with the proper parts. Fortunately, parts for a commercial drinking fountain are fairly easy to come by, with plenty of companies selling them on the Internet and shipping them anywhere in the country.

I recommend: Check out DrinkingFountainDoctor.com, a specialist in drinking fountain parts since 1987. The company carries parts from every major manufacturer of commercial drinking fountains, including American Standard, Oasis and Elkay. Equiparts is also a major supplier of parts for commercial water coolers. The company has repair parts for all major brands ready to ship.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you are located in a cold climate, don't forget to shut off the water to outdoor drinking fountains in the winter. This should prevent any unnecessary damage from frozen pipes.

Water is essential to life. It covers 71 percent of Earth’s surface and constitutes 55 to 60 percent of the adult human body; 78 percent of an infant’s body is water. Humans can go three weeks without food, but only three days without water. A regular supply of clean, potable water is important for survival; the first drinking fountain was invented out of a concern for children’s well-being.

Drinking fountains provide a convenient supply of water to thirsty people away from home, eliminating the need to carry water around. Drinking fountains also provide an excuse to get away from one’s desk for brief periods of time and an impromptu gathering place for short meetings "around the water cooler."

Drinking fountains are available in the following styles:

1. Box-shaped freestanding or wall-mounted units that touch the floor. Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, this style is decreasing in popularity.
2. Pedestal-mounted units, commonly called "bubblers" in some parts of the country, some of which feature multiple fountains at different heights.
3. Wall-mounted water coolers designed with clearance for wheelchairs. (Some include built-in chillers, while others require a separate water chiller.)
4. Recessed-mount wall units designed to provide side-to-side clearance in narrow and high-traffic areas.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Drink with a drinking fountain provider you trust

In business, brand name and reputation are key selling points for products. The same is true for drinking fountain providers, many of whom base their reputation on the purity of the water their units provide, as well as function and style.

I recommend: Elkay offers the broadest line of commercial water coolers and drinking water fountains under its self-named and Halsey Taylor lines, with features like a No Lead design and its Filtrex water-filtering system. Markstaar sells electric water coolers made by Haws Corporation, whose founder, Luther Haws, invented the drinking fountain in 1909.

Place the water where it's needed with outdoor and indoor drinking fountains

Moses provided water for the Israelites in the desert by striking a rock. People today have to settle for less miraculous methods, but drinking fountain providers offer units that can bring forth water anywhere a supply line can be laid.

I recommend: Discount Crowd Control offers outdoor drinking fountains for sale in vandal-resistant concrete and replicas of nostalgic cast-iron bubblers, as well as floor- and wall-mounted indoor drinking fountains in several shapes and styles. Limpia Water deals in four major brands – Elkay, Halsey Taylor, Haws and Oasis – and features design, brand and price comparisons of its products and shipping anywhere within the contiguous United States.

Drink in a good deal

With the number of quality drinking fountain products available, many drinking fountain providers offer free shipping or other services in an effort to clinch the deal.

I recommend: Markstaar offers free shipping on four or more of its commercial water fountains purchased anywhere in the continental United States. Discount Crowd Control offers free shipping on three or more drinking water fountains and chillers.

Keep the water flowing

There's nothing more annoying to a thirsty person than a drinking fountain marked 'out of order.' Keep your bubbler bubbling with quality replacement parts.

I recommend: IraWoods.com offers a complete line of parts and accessories for the Elkay water fountains it sells. DrinkingFountainDoctor.com sells commercial water fountains from Elkay, Halsey Taylor and Oasis and offers a searchable database of replacement parts for its units.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider the placement of the drinking fountain as well as its design before purchasing. Drinking fountains should be placed where everyone has easy access to the unit without being in other people's way while slaking their thirst.

If you're renovating or constructing a public building or space, chances are you're thinking about putting in drinking fountains. Drinking fountains come in a seemingly endless array of sizes, styles and colors. These days, most are built to be handicapped accessible and some have smaller fountains attached to them for kids. You can even buy a drinking fountain for pets.

This guide will help you figure out how much to budget for your drinking fountains and find drinking fountain providers. But before learning more about the pricing and costs of Drinking Fountains, take a moment to decide if you want to purchase:

1. Indoor drinking fountains;

2. Outdoor drinking fountains;

3. Or unique drinking fountains.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Purchase indoor drinking fountains

Indoor drinking fountains come in several styles, including wall mounted, free standing and recessed. In general, prices for an indoor water fountain run between $500 and $1500, not including installation. However, you can save money and maintenance by purchasing a nonrefrigerated drinking fountain.

I recommend: Limpia Water is a distributor of Oasis indoor drinking fountains, one of the best-selling types of commercial water fountains. The retailer sells a wide selection of Oasis fountains, including several economical models. Metropolitan Pipe & Supply sells a selection of Halsey Taylor indoor water fountains. The company focuses on making its fountains accessible to all individuals.

Purchase outdoor drinking fountains

If your project includes an outdoor space, such as a park, adding an outdoor drinking fountain can be a nice touch. An outdoor drinking fountain gives people another reason to visit the space, linger and enjoy. An outdoor fountain will generally cost you around $1,000, with freeze-resistant models selling for about double.

I recommend: Belson Outdoors has a great selection of high-quality outdoor drinking fountains. Dozens of styles are available, and most come in as many as nine different colors. PlumbingSupply.com sells decorative and durable outdoor drinking fountains. Most of the fountains ship in one to two weeks, but if you needed it faster than that, express shipping is available.

Purchase unique drinking fountains

You don't have to install a standard drinking fountain on your project. Instead, you can make an artistic statement by installing a creatively styled drinking fountain. These types of drinking fountains typically cost a bit more, with some as expensive as $4,000. But in return, they will standout and attract positive attention.

I recommend: Murdoc Super Secur sells a line of unique drinking water fountains, including an outdoor drinking fountain shaped like a tree stump. Markstaar has a line of drinking fountains for pets.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When purchasing drinking fountains that will be located in a public area, make sure that they are vandal resistant, especially if the drinking fountains will be located outside.
• •  If you are purchasing a large number of drinking water fountains, call the distributor directly. You may be able to get a volume discount or have the shipping costs reduced.

The drinking fountain is something a lot of us take for granted when we see it in a school, hospital, government building or commercial space, but in reality, a lot of thought goes into these handy water dispensers for public water supplies. Businesses wanting to add drinking fountains to their design can find out a lot about a variety of terms for drinking fountains, from engineering and access design to history, online from Web resources. Take a look to get informed about what goes on behind the scenes for installing drinking fountains in a building or on business grounds outdoors.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Potable water

Though it may be confusing for some, potable water just means water that is 'fit to drink.' A number of standards apply to drinking water according to the local, state and federal governments that apply to a particular area. This may be a concern when installing drinking fountains, as providing unsafe water can be a health and safety issue and a liability.

I recommend: Learn more about potable water at this guide from WiseGeek.

Specifying

Specifying water fountains and coolers is the term for the process that engineers go through, for testing everything about a fountain or drinking water dispenser from cooling to design for accessibility.

I recommend: Learn more about aspects of specifying drinking fountains at this page from Marketing Support.

ADA compliance

The ADA or Americans with Disabilities Act regulates how businesses must supply site access and access to services to those with disabilities. With drinking fountains, this generally means that the units must be wheelchair-accessible.

I recommend: Learn more from the ADA Standards for Accessible Design online.

Free-standing drinking fountains

Free-standing water drinking fountains are models that go all the way down to the floor. These are available in several different types, from 'box-type' free-standing units to stylish 'pedestal standing' types.

I recommend: Use this guide from Fountains Web to see if free standing units are the right choice for a site.

Halsey Taylor and Haws

This obscure combinations of names goes back to the 'invention' of the modern drinking fountain. Early in the 20th century, changes in design made public drinking fountains safer and more sanitary.

I recommend: Learn more about Halsey Taylor and Haws and the history of drinking fountains at PME's A Brief History of Drinking Fountains and Water Coolers.

Bubbling fountains

New designs in water fountains are intended to allay some of the public's fears and make these installations more appealing to visitors. Bubbling fountain styles are just one kind of way to accomplish this.

I recommend: Find out more about these bubbling fountain types at Sea-Tac airport in the Village Voice.