Handy Indoor Drinking Fountain Comparison Guide

In Search of the right indoor water fountain for your workplace? Take a look at our handy comparison guide.

Here at MIW Office Solutions we stock a wide range of high quality hydration solutions, from recessed indoor drinking fountains to anti-vandal outdoor bottle fillers. We stock plenty of units from the world’s largest manufacturers of drinking fountains, including the likes of Halsey Taylor and Cosmetal, each of which are designed and manufactured to the standards which we’ve come to expect from these industry leaders.

We have recently began stocking the Zip CH04 recessed drinking fountain, which offers a low-cost hydration option for smaller or quieter schools, offices and sports centres. To establish just how good value the fountain is, we decided to compare the features and overall quality of this new unit with an equivalent product from leading name Halsey Taylor. Here are our findings.

Design

Halsey Taylor’s HTHB-8 features a corrosion-resistant frame constructed from galvanised steel, complete with stainless steel panels covering the top and front of the unit. The CH104 recessed drinking fountain features similar stainless steel panels, although its absence of rounded corners and smoothed edges means the HTHB-8 is the more visually pleasing of the two. However, both drinking fountains do feature conveniently placed front access panels for easy maintenance.

Performance

Halsey Taylor’s HTHB-8 features a single bottle filler, which produces two-stream laminar flow for quick and mess-free use. On the other hand, the CH104 provides both a swivel head carafe filler and a regular bubbler tap. However, whereas the CH104 is operated with a push-button, the HTHB-8 automatically starts and stops when a bottle is placed in the unit. On top of this, the Zip unit’s carafe filler is notorious for its fragility – and may need replacing on an annual basis.

In terms of flow rate, the HTHB-8 recessed bottle filler will dispense up to 1.1 gallons of water per minute, thanks to Halsey Taylor’s innovative HydroBoost TM technology. On the other hand, the CH104 features a storage tank of only 1.8 litres and far slower flow rates, making it less suitable for high traffic environments like schools and offices.

Refrigeration

The Zip CH104 utilises an air cooled refrigeration system which is inexpensive to run but chills only 3.2 gallons of water per hour. Conversely, Halsey Taylor’s fountain will chill up to 8 gallons of water to 5-10 degrees Celsius every hour. The HTHB-8 also takes the upper hand when it comes to maintenance, as it’s refrigeration system is not only hermetically sealed and lifetime lubricated, but it is also covered by a 5 year warranty – compared with the CH104’s 12-month parts-only warranty.

Hygiene and Cleanliness

As we would expect from Halsey Taylor, the HTHB-8 boasts a number of features to maintain a clean and contaminant-free water supply. As well as a corrosion-resistant casing, any plastic components which could be susceptible to mold are protected with a silver ion anti-microbial treatment. The drinking fountain also comes complete with a HWF3000 WaterSentry Plus filter, which removes lead, chlorine and other contaminants from the water supply. With the Zip CH104 there is an option to install a similar activated carbon filter as an extra, although this will require replacing more frequently than the equivalent from Halsey Taylor – which also features a colour-changing LED to alert you when a replacement is due.

On the whole, it is clear that the Halsey Taylor HTHB-8 recessed bottle filler is a far superior product than the Zip CH104. The CH104 is the less expensive of the two, but with a higher chance of requiring maintenance and a general level of performance that simply doesn’t compare. SO if you require long-lasting, reliable and convenient hydration for high volumes of people in one space, there really is only one option.