When travelling by plane it can sometimes be difficult knowing where to fill up on water. After airport security you’ll be limited to expensive shops selling overpriced water bottles or public drinking fountains. So many travellers find themselves asking the same question:
Are airport drinking fountains safe?
The short answer is yes – but as with most public drinking fountains, their safety will vary depending on what equipment is installed, and how regularly it is cleaned. Let’s look at exactly why airport drinking fountains are perfectly safe.
The Water Quality at Airports
Strict regulations in the UK and most other developed nations guarantee that the water provided by airports (and any public building) is just as safe as the tap water in your own home. Provided by mains water supplies, airport water fountains use water from the same municipal sources we all use daily. It is regularly tested and monitored to ensure it consistently meets safety standards set by the government. The water itself shouldn’t give you cause for concern. Instead, people are often wary about how sanitary the physical fountain itself is.
Why Some People are Concerned
Let’s face it – airport drinking fountains don’t exactly inspire confidence. Many are old, and suffer from:
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Users’ mouths having to come into contact with the same surface
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Splashed up dirt around the nozzle
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Unknowingly trusting the cleaning schedules of strangers
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Cleaning processes themselves
Public drinking fountain hygiene definitely is better than it used to be. But older styles of drinking fountains can look messy, and busy airports aren’t exactly known for their sparkling cleanliness. Enter the Bottle Filling Station.
In recent years airports have started to replace outdated drinking fountains with bottle filling stations.
Modern travellers demand faster, touch-free technology that they know is safe to use with their reusable water bottles. Systems from Water Refill Group, like the popular Elkay ezH2O® products, are trusted by airports, train stations and public venues around the world to provide hydration for visitors.
What are the Benefits of Bottle Filling Stations?
Bottle filling stations allow users to fill their water bottles with mains water quickly and easily. Here’s how they make drinking fountain hygiene easier:
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Tap-free sensors – Many models use infrared sensors which allow users to simply place their bottles under the tap to start filling, eliminating the need to press any buttons
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Systems that are designed to fill bottles, rather than built for someone to drink directly from them
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Delivering water at a slower rate for easy filling. Laminar flow technology also helps to provide a steady, clean stream of water that won’t splash out.
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Filtration – Many bottle fill stations now come with built-in filtration so you can drink better-tasting water with reduced impurities.
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Perfect for Busy Public Areas
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Robust designs mean you can rely on them to withstand heavy usage and vandalism. Modern systems also come in designs to suit your interior.
Hydration stations are changing the way we think about public drinking water. Here are some tips to stay safe when using an airport water fountain.
Top Tips for Staying Hydrated Safely When Travelling
Although hydration stations make using public fountains easier than ever, it doesn’t hurt to take some precautions. Just remember:
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Try to use modern hydration stations instead of older drinking fountains.
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Use a reusable water bottle to keep your mouth away from the nozzle
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Check the unit is clean before using it.
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Don’t touch the nozzle or tap itself.
These tips will help you stay safe while allowing you to hydrate for free at your nearest airport.
Say Goodbye To Single-Use Plastic
In the battle against plastic waste, even small changes can help. If every traveller refilled their water bottle instead of buying a new plastic bottle we could begin to see a difference. Elkay’s hydration stations even feature built-in bottle counters that display how many plastic bottles have been avoided by using the refilling station. By installing hydration stations at airports and encouraging visitors to use them instead of buying single-use plastic bottles, airports can help the environment too.
Keeping Up With Customer Expectations
By upgrading to bottle hydration stations airports can provide customers with:
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Hygienic drinking options
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Fast and convenient water refills
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Plastic bottle alternatives
Water Refill Group, as the exclusive UK and EU distributor of Elkay, is on a mission to make hydration for travellers easier than ever. Our bottle hydration stations allow businesses to:
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Provide customers with secure hydration solutions
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Ensure visitors stay hydrated on-the-go
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Give your customers an Eco-friendly alternative to single-use plastic bottles
So, are airport drinking fountains safe?
If they’re modern hydration stations that are fitted with bottle filling stations then absolutely. Old-fashioned water fountains may be around, but they’re quickly being phased out. By taking the above precautions and using a refillable bottle you can hydrate safely at airports wherever you travel.
Here at Water Refill Group we’re proud to help supply Elkay water refill stations to airports around the UK and help make using public drinking water simple, hygienic and sustainable.
