The one thing that I have found when working in an office environment is that I tend to neglect myself somewhat by forgetting to keep up with my water intake, finding myself feeling lethargic and dehydrated even if there are floor standing water dispensers at each corner of the building.

Most people underestimate the importance of hydration. It is common for people not to realise that they are dehydrating, until much later on in the day when it is too late to make up for the lost fluid. The most important part of keeping track of one's health and well-being is monitoring the amount of water consumption in a day. Unfortunately, the most common beverage in an office or any work environment is tea or coffee. More people consume caffeine based drinks rather than pouring themselves water from water dispensers or the tap and then thinking that this counts towards their daily water intake.

Caffeine is both a stimulant and a diuretic, meaning it dehydrates the body. Therefore, when people consume more tea and coffee on a daily basis they are in fact losing fluid from their body. Though caffeine does provide an individual with stimulants, it is in fact doing more harm to the body than they know. We as humans are absolutely dependant on water and it is vital that we maintain a good balance in water consumption. For this reason, many work environments (namely offices) have water dispensers available.

History

Drinking safe water was a key issue in the past. Early water treatments and purifications can be dated back as far as 2000 BC, whereby treatment consisted of boiling the water, or placing a hot metal in the water to filter it through from sand or charcoal. Many years later, until the invention of the microscope, water filtration changed dramatically. Scientists and researchers were able to view tiny water particles and determine whether the water was clean or not. It also helped scientists connect certain diseases related to poor quality water such as cholera, and was able to decrease the number of cholera outbreak by improving water filtration systems.

Water Coolers have been around since the 1900s, whereby large blocks of ice were used to chill the water.

Electric coolers were then created in 1938, following a variant supply of water cooling devices and many more improvements in the design. Many researchers during this period were already aware of the importance of water for a healthy lifestyle. Bottled water dispensers have been around since before the mid twentieth century, with water cooling units introduced later on.

As well as offering a cool water to drink, many units offer a heating device, providing instant heated water along with cooled water. The units are also available in many shapes and colours and can even be available with fancy electrical devices and LCD screens. However, the most common and popular water units are freestanding bottled units that depend on gravity to provide water.

Some are also designed with different modes and settings such as, energy saving features, temperature control and for purity a bacteriostatic water tube. It is very rare these days for offices not to provide water units for staff, therefore people do not have to go out and buy a bottle of water separately. Though, that being said, it is the responsibility of the individual to maintain their water intake regularly and with free water available there really is no excuse!