We anticipate in the coming weeks and months that businesses will gradually begin to reopen and hopefully we can get back to some sort of normality. This then raises questions about re-commissioning your Water Coolers, Coffee Machines and Boilers. Here is some advice from the UK Water Dispenser & Hydration Association (WHA) about the re-commissioning of Water Coolers after a period of shut down.
If the Cooler has been in use during lockdown
Continue its use. If there is a delay, due to lockdown, in the pre-planned sanitising regime by your water cooler provider, you can safely extend the period by using a food safe sanitising spray such as our CCSPRAY, to spray the taps and the dispensing area.
Wash the Drip Tray and Grill with soap and hot water.
If the Cooler has been shut down
POU Cooler: Flush approx. 2.5 ltr of water through each tap (roughly 5 Litres in total) and then sanitise taps and dispensing area with a commercially available food safe sanitising spray, such as our CCSPRAY, and wash the Drip Tray and Grill with soap and hot water.
Bottled Coolers: Remove the old bottle and replace with a new one. Flush 2ltr through each tap. Sanitise taps and dispensing area with a food safe sanitising spray, such as our CCSPRAY, and wash the Drip Tray and Grill with soap and hot water.
SIP Automatic Overnight Self Sanitisation
If your Cooler is equipped with SIP Automatic Overnight Self Sanitisation, the Cooler will be automatically sanitised overnight 24/7. You should therefore be all right. You can see the SIP Video on our water cooler page.
We would still recommend to sanitise the taps and dispensing area with a food safe sanitising spray, such as our CCSPRAY, and to wash the Drip Tray and Grill with soap and hot water.
So the overall message is that there are simple things you can do to ensure that you can use your Water Cooler safely until your provider can arrange with you the next round of sanitising. It is important to also make sure that there are no leaks after re-commissioning your POU water cooler. It may have been moved or a pipe connection may have become loose. In case of a leak, turn the isolating tap at the mains water connection off, and let your provider know.
Hot Water Boilers or Coffee Machines are not such a concern, since the hot water destroys water borne bacteria – Do use the spray on the dispense areas & keeping the outer surfaces clean and disinfected will, of course, be beneficial.
We are also fielding questions on COVID19: There is no evidence that COVID19 is water borne, and a water cooler if unused for a period is likely only to create quality and not safety issues. Sanitising will not destroy the COVID19 virus. The real issue from a Covid-19 contamination standpoint is that the water cooler is only an issue from the people touching the unit on the taps or anywhere on it – so, again, keep the surfaces clean and sanitary on a daily basis.