Drinking water fountains is now a distributor for the Tomlinson products. These products include the Pro-flow range of Bubbler valves and cartridges and also a huge range of glass\bottle filling taps. Bubbler valves generally contain a cartridge that periodically fails causing the button to leak. Many people think that all bubbler cartridges are the same. This is not the case. Tomlinson pro-flow cartridges allow trajectory over a wide range of pressures and fit all brands of fountain. The pressure rating on these cartridges is 120 PSI/8BAR.

The Tomlinson range of value-line range of taps are available in 5 styles and 3 finishes offering many options to coordinate any Decor. East Tap has 36 inches of pre installed 1/4″ tubing and a 3″ inlet shank with 7/16″-24 threads.The Lead free Swan neck spout swivels a full 360 degrees. Polished chrome is standard on these fillers but Satin Nickel and Antique bronze are also available. Please contact us for details on the full range of Quality Tomlinson Products.

We don’t fully know how it works but according to the creators, “once it has seen you, the gently bowing motion is created simply by moving water up and down the stem.”

Have a look at the video below to see the Tropism Well in action:

Poietic Studio hope that the installation will open up new dialogues around the way in which water is dispensed and consumed in public places, and judging by this exciting creation we could see some interesting developments in the world of drinking fountains in the future!

Poietic Studio aims to use their expertise in art, design and engineering to create unique and tangible experiences. Read more on the Tropism Well on their website.

You will need the following ; Liquid De-scaler , Paper Towels and a Grout Brush.

1) Spray the descaler directly onto the drinking fountain. Descalers remove rust, calcium and lime deposits from Stainless Steel without damaging the surface. Leave the descaler on for the amount of time indicated in the manufacturer’s instructions. Use damp paper towels to wipe away the descaler.

2) Spray a disinfectant cleaner onto the entire drinking fountain. Make sure to spray directly into the Faucet and surrounding areas. Allow the disinfectant to sit for a minimum of 10 minutes.

3) Spray a grout brush with disinfectant. Use the brush to thoroughly scrub the inside of the Bubbler. After scrubbing, run water through the Faucet to clear out the disinfectant.

4) Spray another coat of disinfectant onto the grout brush. Use the brush to scrub the grate covering the drain. Make sure to also scrub around the edge of the grate since mold and mildew can accumulate in this area.

Looking more closely at it, the students noticed the outline of a water bottle and a small spout where they assumed water was dispensed. This meant students were able to bring their reusable water bottles to campus for the first time in months, simply to test the device. Though this water is the same water we once drank from the fountain, it tasted much sweeter. “Thank you, water gods. It is now possible to fill water bottles up twice as fast, and we are doing it in style.” one of the students exclaimed

Okay, so we know the real reason for these dispensers revolves around encouraging students to stop buying water bottles, which is a worthy cause. Of course, buying water can become expensive, and most don’t have that kind of cash lying around. It promotes eco-friendly behavior while keeping their wallets happy. The dispenser allows the entire water bottle to fill, while the water fountain only allows half the bottle to fill until the tilt of the bottle causes the water to flow back out of the top.

There has been talk of taking this water bottle movement even further, and it toes the line. We are all in favor of giving students the option to decide whether or not saving the environment is on their priority list. Give students the option, and we believe they will more often than not make good decisions. Banning the sale of water bottles on campus completely, simply, does not make sense. When options are whittled down to one option, people feel rather confined. What will happen to the students who care less about preservation? When someone passes out on the sidewalk, we will know why. Dehydration.

It comes down to this: don’t tell students what they can and cannot do. Prompt them to do the right thing. Make saving the earth convenient. This is why it was wise to install more efficient water dispensers that prompt students to carry water bottles. Let’s not take it to the extreme. Thank you for the go-green enthusiasm, but at the same time, no thank you.

Douglas Green, park operations superintendent, spells out why the city decided to purchase the fountains in a two-page memo.

In a nutshell, the city says parks users have long asked for all-season water fountains along Plano’s trails. Plano in response tried to retrofit its existing fountains with anti-freeze equipment two years ago. But the retrofits caused damage and apparently led to expensive repairs, and so the city has decided to replace 11 of its roughly 130 parks fountains with new drinking stations that can withstand cold weather.

The new fountains are more expensive than typical fountains, a tough pill to swallow during an era when Plano has endured multiple rounds of budget cuts. But the city believes the tradeoff will be worth it.

The City Council approved the measure unanimously in its consent agenda without discussion. The money will come from the city’s capital reserve fund. R & S Commercial Services, LP, a Dallas-based company that primarily contracts on painting and drywall work, was the lone bidder in the project. They will serve as the endeavor’s general contractor, said Amy Fortenberry, director of parks and recreation for the city.

Wrote Green in his recent memo: “The bid includes the cost of the anti-freezing unit plus the contractual installation service in the price. The cost of the installation covers the removal of the existing unit, construction of the plumbing of all below ground components, and pouring the surrounding concrete pad. After completion of the work, maintenance of the new units should be minimal over the next 7-10 years, thereby saving staff time and the cost of repair/replacement parts.”

A worthy project? A waste of money? We’d love to hear your thoughts…

“Where have all our drinking water fountains gone?” Gleick writes in an article in SF Gate. “They have been disappearing, one by one, from public spaces, parks, offices. And yet, it has become easier and easier to find expensive and environmentally damaging commercial bottled water. Safe, free drinking water used to be common: we all used public water fountains. Now they are hard to find, dirty, or broken.”

To work on fixing this issue, Pacific Institute, which Gleick heads up, and Google are working on WeTap — and they need your input.

The WeTap app will allow smart phone users to add the location, condition, and quality to a national database of fountains. The uploaded data, and a photo, will be accessible to WeTap users who are looking for a drinking fountain in that area.

Instead of looking for a convenience store for a bottle of water, you can look for some free water. And if cities are seeing that their drinking fountains are being listed in a database, it might be an incentive to clean them up and make them function properly to avoid embarrassment. After all, no city wants to win an award for “Most Disgusting, Defunct Drinking Fountains.”

So far, the team is working on building the application and will begin beta testing sometime in the near future. If you’re interested in helping out, you need to have an Android powered smart phone, a gmail and Picasa account (because of course they want you to only use Google tools) and a willingness to try out some funky-looking water fountains.

Gleick writes, “Why map drinking fountains? Public spaces need to provide public water fountains, and municipal systems must continue to improve the quality of the water they deliver and to educate consumers about the bargain we are getting with tap water. We need our public water fountains to be maintained, cleaned, and made even more widely available, and to be vocal in fighting the trend to eliminate public water fountains.”

Conceived by the Royal Parks Foundation and Tiffany & Co. Foundation, in partnership with The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the challenge is to create a well-designed drinking fountain to replace older Parks’ fountains which cannot be restored. The winning designer will see their work turned into reality in the Parks, with the hope that the design will eventually be adopted in other green spaces around the world.
The number of functioning drinking fountains in the UK is at an all time low. A recent survey* revealed that only 11% of green spaces provide working water fountains.

Requiring 2000 times more energy to produce bottled water than tap water**, drinking fountains are a practical and environmentally friendly way to refresh visitors and minimise waste. Tiffany – Across the Water will see The Royal Parks’ drinking fountains undergo much-needed restoration after years of hard use, since they were installed in Victorian and Edwardian times.

A significant part of Tiffany – Across the Water will also be to create a stunning ‘Tiffany & Co. Foundation Fountain’ which will take centre stage in St James’s Park lake. The twenty-foot plume will leap against the magnificent backdrop of Buckingham Palace and Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade. The aeration provided by the fountain will benefit the many species of wildlife dependent on the fresh waters of the lake.

The historic Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens, dating back to the 1860s, are a popular spot for tourists and Londoners alike and will undergo major restoration work, including five small fountains and the monumental Tazza Fountain. The stonework, flint walls, benches and formal promenade will also be restored to their former glory. In addition, a new eco-friendly water system will be installed to benefit the Long Water and encourage wildlife to flourish.

“We are very grateful to the Tiffany & Co. Foundation for this fabulous opportunity to restore and renew water features across the 5,000 acres of The Royal Parks. The international design competition to create a beautiful, “standard model”, drinking fountain will benefit millions of runners, walkers, riders, cyclists and other visitors to The Royal Parks and will, we hope, be adopted by other green spaces around the world”, says Sara Lom, Chief Executive, Royal Parks Foundation.

Part of our Foundation’s mission is to preserve the natural heritage that distinguishes great urban centers,” said Michael J. Kowalski, Trustee of the Tiffany & Co. Foundation and Chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co. “To that end we established a parks program that began with support for the green spaces of New York City, where Tiffany was founded, and now has expanded to include parks in other major cities. In supporting the beautification efforts of the Royal Parks Foundation we help to maintain London’s tradition of parks that provide a respite and recreation to its citizens, and it is our pleasure to do so.”

The modern drinking fountain was invented and then manufactured in the early 1900s by two men and the respective company each man founded: Halsey Willard Taylor and the Halsey Taylor Company; and Luther Haws and the Haws Sanitary Drinking Faucet Co. These two companies changed how water was served in public places.

Halsey Taylor’s father had died of typhoid fever caused by contaminated public drinking water. His father’s death motivated him to invent the water fountain, to provide safer drinking water.

Luther Haws was a part-time plumber, sheet metal contractor and the sanitary inspector for the city of Berkeley, Calif. While inspecting a public school, Haws saw children drinking water out of a common tin cup that was tied to the faucet. Haws also feared that there was a health hazard in the way the public was sharing their water supply.

Haws invented the first faucet designed for drinking. He used spare plumbing parts, taking the ball from a brass bedstead and a self-closing rabbit ear valve. The Berkeley school department installed the first model drinking faucets.