Innovative Bottle Filling Station

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Innovative Bottle Filling Station

Bottle Filling Station at Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Conference

Elkay, an American-owned and operated manufacturer of drinking fountains and bottle filling stations, will introduce new models of its EZH2O product at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Conference in Portland, Oregon. The conference is being held October 27 at the Oregon Convention Center.

Elkay first introduced the bottle filling station in 2010 in response to consumer demand for drinking water as well as growing concern regarding the environmental impact of bottled water. "Elkay has long provided water through our drinking fountain business unit," said Franco Savoni, product director at Elkay. "However, that product was not designed for filling plastic water bottles. Our EZH2O product was developed specifically to address that need and can now be found on campuses across the country, including many in Oregon."

The energy wasted using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes. One feature of the existing EZH2O bottle filling station is a digital counter that shows how many bottles have been filled. "With one filter in our bottle filling station, you can dispense the equivalent of 20,000 disposable bottles," said Savoni. "That alone has been pleasing to our customers' sustainability coordinators and their constituents, but our next-generation models have been designed to provide even more environmental benefits."

The bottle filling station that Elkay is unveiling at AASHE is different than the original model because it can be set to not use any power when the facility in which it is installed is closed. "This feature will allow institutions that have our next-generation bottle filling stations installed to cut the energy usage of EZH2O in half," said Savoni.

Elkay is also introducing an accessory to the next-generation bottle filling station that will create connectivity among multiple EZH2O units and allow those who are managing them to have remote access. This allows sustainability coordinators to report on total number of plastic bottles saved by multiple units remotely vs. visiting each unit and adding up those numbers manually.

The new bottle filling stations also feature enhanced diagnostic communications. For instance, if a unit is having an issue or needs a new filter, the person responsible for that will be alerted remotely. "The sooner someone is alerted to an issue, the sooner that issue can be addressed," said Savoni. "Less down time for the units will result in a better experience for the end users and fewer phone calls to the facility manager with complaints."

Maintenance of the next-generation models will also be easier with improved functionality of the EZH2O units. "With our new models, when you change the filter, the filter monitor is reset automatically," said Savoni. "The current process involves multiple steps including taking the cover off, so this increased functionality should save facility managers about 15 minutes every time they need to change a filter."

The new units also include screens that customers can use to convey extra messaging to the end users. "The units will come with messages pre-loaded, but those can easily be updated after purchase," said Savoni. "One model comes with a video screen that be used to communicate information visually."

Source: Elkay

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