Story at a glance:
- Many offices still rely on single-use plastics, but smart taps give employees the amenities they really want.
- High-quality water filtration and reusable drinkware can slash reliance on single-use plastics and reduce their associated environmental impact.
- Design-forward filtered water systems like HydroTap by Zip Water encourage workforces to hydrate and support company ESG goals.
A single filtered water system eliminates more than 100,000 plastic bottles over its lifetime. One system. Under one counter.
“Everyone knows water is good for you. It’s important to health, energy, and vitality,” says Christine Vandover, senior project interior designer and principal for HOK. “People don’t want microplastics in their water, and that’s why they use stainless steel bottles. It’s becoming a cultural norm.”
Interest in systems that go beyond the basic drinking water has grown in the last five years, according to Betsy Froelich, marketing director for Zip Water, a division of Culligan International. “Everyone wants access to cleaner, safer, great-tasting water,” she says.
It’s not just a water cooler or a bottle of water employees want, though. With growing awareness around the wellness benefits of hydration and overall water quality, plus continued resistance against single-use plastics, dedicated water solutions are gaining traction in workplaces and communal spaces.
What Workers Want
Photo courtesy of Zip Water North America
Happy, healthy employees are productive employees, and companies are bringing people back into offices with all kinds of wellness amenities. Onsite exercise facilities, flexible workspaces, collaboration lounges, and meditation rooms are popular features, and offices are scrambling to supply them.
When international design, architecture, engineering, and planning firm HOK talks to clients about outfitting pantries and breakrooms, it asks their preferences on details like kitchen appliances, waste receptacles, recycling programs, and water. “Water is always part of it,” Vandover says. “It’s something clients care about.”
A workplace might request a filtered water next to the sink, a hot-and-cold tap, or a water station and bottle filler, for example. “Hospitality thinking has infiltrated all projects,” Vandover says. “Every office needs a good coffee machine and clean drinking water. You’re trying to make everyone feel like it’s a great place to work.”
Design-forward filtered water systems like HydroTap by Zip Water encourage workforces to hydrate and support company ESG goals. “Filtered water that everyone has access to facilitates a communal vibe that’s important to workplace culture,” says Nate Knollenberg, vice president and general manager of Zip Water. Photo by Matthew Edgar
There’s an element of keeping up with the times, too. “With more people returning to office, many commercial spaces are competing with each other,” says Nate Knollenberg, vice president and general manager of Zip Water. “Creating a welcoming, amenity-led environment is important to employers, and healthy drinking water is important to many employees. These are not mutually exclusive anymore.”
We don’t want to keep producing plastic.
It’s not just offices, though. Destinations like music venues and sports stadiums are rethinking access to water, too. The United Center—home to the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks—hosts more than two million guests annually. In 2024 the arena partnered with Culligan International, the global leader in water services, to install filtered drinking water throughout the arena with refilling stations in the concourse, refillable aluminum bottles at concessions, and Zip Water HydroTap faucets in the lower-level suites, collectively making a sustainable impact while improving water quality for all. The HydroTap is a tastefully designed solution that delivers filtered hot, cold, and sparkling water instantly in practically any setting equipped with a water line.
Culligan’s partnership with United Center successfully eliminated reliance on nearly 600,000 single-use plastic water bottles in its first year. “The United Center’s platform and audience connection gives us a unique ability to impact sustainability efforts,” says Joe Myhra, United Center’s executive vice president and COO. “Our work and partnership with Culligan are leading examples of our commitment to collaboration and making a positive impact on sustainability and our local community.”
“What’s good for the planet is good for business,” Al Hamood, chief operating officer, Culligan International, said last year. “To achieve such significant results in our first year demonstrates the power of our purpose: providing sustainable water solutions to enhance fan experiences and reduce plastic waste.”
Even the WELL building standard encourages building owners to provide occupants with access to drinking water that meets quality standards for taste, safety, and hydration, emphasizing filtration and contaminant removal. It recommends hydration stations that make clean water easy to access to help people meet their wellness goals.
High-Quality Hydration
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- Photo courtesy of Zip Water North America
Founded in Australia in 1947, Zip Water has provided instant access to water with its solutions since 1970. Buoyed by success in the tea-drinking cultures of Asia, the Middle East, and the British Commonwealth, its solutions eventually evolved to offer filtered, chilled, still, and sparkling water alongside boiling water. Today the company operates in more than 90 countries.
While Zip Water is relatively new to North America, companies encouraging office wellness are gravitating toward solutions like HydroTap by Zip Water. HydroTap units operate from compact “command centers” that take up less than two cubic feet—about the size of a box of copier paper—under the sink.
“Offering a clean design is a powerful differentiator that delivers a sense of calm within an office environment,” Knollenberg says. “Filtered water that everyone has access to facilitates a communal vibe that’s important to workplace culture.”
Reducing Plastic Waste
Available in 110 and 240v configurations, HydroTap by Zip Water offers a variety of finishes to suit any décor. Many configurations allow installation with only a drain font, while separate lines prevent cross-contamination in water temperature. All of these elevated engineering offerings mean instant access to quality water at the tap, hot, cold or sparkling. Photo courtesy of Zip Water North America
Companies seeking to operate more sustainably have an added incentive to try a high-end water system: reducing plastic waste. “Each HydroTap can eliminate anywhere from 110,000 to 136,000 plastic water bottles throughout its life cycle,” Knollenberg says. “When office leaders look at how many systems can be installed to quantify the number of single-use plastics they’ll avoid, they understand the potential impact.”
Opportunities to cut waste abound wherever people gather, Vandover says. More facilities are attempting to cut plastic waste with compostable food packaging, paper straws, and reusable bottles and cups. “We don’t want to keep producing plastic,” Vandover says. “It takes 300-plus years to degrade, and we don’t want to ingest microplastics.”
Each HydroTap can eliminate anywhere from 110,000 to 136,000 plastic water bottles throughout its life cycle.
In addition to reducing plastic waste, HydroTap eliminates the packaging, labor, and emissions needed to transport bottled water to a location. Beyond changing the filter and CO2 cartridges every four to six months, “the Zip HydroTap is pretty much set it and forget it,” Knollenberg says.
“There are two main reasons a company would have plastic water bottles: They want to provide water and hydration for employees, and they want high-quality water,” Froelich says. “A HydroTap provides access to hydration, and its filtration guarantees high-quality. Our customers feel confident about how they’re removing single-use plastics, and their teams love the water in their space.”
HydroTap is also 100% water-efficient and offers users sparkling water without adding sodium. “Our CO2 attaches to the minerals to create sparkling water and helps with hydration,” Froelich says. “The quality and ease of access fuels a greater demand for water without the bloat that a canned or bottled sparkling water might deliver.”
