Water Dispensers for Home

What a water dispenser is, and who it suits

A water dispenser, or water cooler, is a cabinet with a cold tank, often a hot tank, and taps at a comfortable height. The water comes from one of two places: a big bottle, usually 3 or 5 gallons, or your home's water line.

A home water dispenser makes sense if:

• You already buy bottled water by the jug. The cooler gives it a place to live.
• You want cold water without a pitcher in the fridge, or hot water for tea without the kettle.
• Several people drink from it all day, like a house with kids, a home office or a workshop.

It makes less sense if your tap water tastes fine and a pitcher in the fridge keeps up. Nobody needs a second refrigerator that only does one thing.

The table above shows every water dispenser in our data, with the fields the maker or listing states. A dash means neither one says. Under it, this page explains each field, the four styles, and how to keep one clean.

What to look at in a water dispenser listing

Read the plate first. On a water cooler, the plate and the listing tell you the style, the temperatures, the bottle size, the safety features and the electrical listing.

Style: top-load, bottom-load, bottleless or countertop

This is the big choice, and the next section covers each style. The table names it as the listing does.

Temperatures

Listings name the temperatures their taps give. Most in the table give hot and cold. Some add a cool or room setting. A few give a range instead: a Brio bottleless model lists 39°F to 203°F with 10 presets. Some Elkay Liv bottleless models are listed as non-refrigerated, so check that field if cold water is the reason you're shopping.

Hot, cold and room temperature: also the three positions in every Sunday dinner argument about sweet tea.

We show temperatures only as the maker states them. If a listing doesn't give a number, we don't supply one.

Bottle size: 3 or 5 gallons

The bottle size field says which bottles fit. Most bottle-fed models in the table take a 3- or 5-gallon bottle. A few listings state 5 gallons only. If you're shopping for a 5 gallon water dispenser to match the jugs you already buy, check this field first.

A 5-gallon bottle is about 19 liters. Northern Health's guideline for bottled coolers uses the same size.

Child safety lock

A child safety lock keeps the hot tap from opening with a simple push. Many listings in the table state one. In a house with small children, it's the field to read before the price. We show the lock only when the listing names it.

Self-cleaning

Some listings state a self-cleaning feature, and a few name it in the model, such as a UV model. We show the field as the listing states it and don't describe how it works beyond what the maker says. Self-cleaning doesn't replace the cleaning steps in the manual. The manual says what the feature covers and what you still clean by hand.

Filtration, on bottleless models

Bottleless models filter the water from your line before it reaches the tank. Listings name the stages: sediment and carbon, carbon block, three stages, or a four-stage reverse osmosis system on a Brio model.

Here's my one opinion on this page. A water filter does what its NSF/ANSI certification says and nothing more. NSF/ANSI standards are the numbers that say what a filter has been certified to reduce. The filtration field on most listings names the stages, not a certification. A stage name tells you what's inside the housing. It doesn't tell you what comes out of the water. If a listing doesn't give an NSF/ANSI standard number and the contaminants it covers, we don't claim the filter removes anything.

Electrical listing

Some listings state UL or ETL listing. Those are safety certifications for the electrical parts. We show them only when the listing names them.

Top-load, bottom-load and bottleless: which style fits

Top-load water coolers

A top-load cooler holds the bottle upside down on top. Water feeds down into the tank by gravity. It's the classic office water cooler. You can see how much water is left from across the room.

The catch is the lift. You have to raise a full bottle and turn it over onto the cooler. If anyone in the house shouldn't be lifting that, look at bottom-load. See top-loading water dispensers.

Bottom-load water coolers

A bottom-load cooler hides the bottle in a cabinet at the base. The cooler draws water up from the bottle to the taps. You slide the bottle in at floor level instead of lifting it overhead.

The listing tells you which bottle sizes fit the cabinet. Some bottom-load listings in the table state a child safety lock and a self-cleaning feature. See bottom-loading water dispensers.

Bottleless water coolers

A bottleless cooler, also called point-of-use, connects to a cold water line and filters the water before it reaches the tank. No bottles to buy, carry or store.

What it needs: a water line near where it stands, and an install that follows the maker's instructions. The manual says whether the hookup is a job for a plumber. The filters need changing on the maker's schedule; write the date down when you do. See bottleless water dispensers.

If you're on a well, as we are, test the water first. EPA advises private well owners to test every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH, using a lab certified for drinking water testing. A filter on a dispenser isn't a fix for a well problem. Know what's in your water before you pick what goes on the line.

Countertop and ice maker models

Countertop dispensers sit on the counter instead of the floor. Some are bottleless; some take a bottle. A few floor models in the table add an ice maker; an Avalon bottleless listing states 22 lbs of ice per day. See countertop water dispensers and water dispensers with ice maker.

How to clean a water dispenser

This is where most water cooler questions end up, and the answer starts with the manual. The maker's instructions come first for your model.

Northern Health, a public health authority in British Columbia, publishes a guideline for sanitizing bottled water coolers that's meant to supplement the maker's instructions. It says Health Canada recommends cleaning and sanitizing a bottled water cooler at each bottle change. Its steps:

1. Unplug the cooler and remove the empty bottle.
2. Drain the reservoir through the taps.
3. Mix a sanitizing solution: 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of unscented household bleach in 1 liter (4 cups) of water.
4. Wash the reservoir with it and let it stand at least 2 minutes and no more than 5, to avoid corrosion.
5. Drain the solution through the taps.
6. Rinse thoroughly with clean drinking water, drained through the taps, until no bleach remains.

The guideline adds that some companies suggest a solution of one part vinegar to three parts water to clear scale before the bleach step, and to check your owner's manual for that. Never mix vinegar and bleach in the same step.

The drip tray gets its own wash: lift it off, take out the screen, wash both in mild detergent and rinse well.

If the first cup after cleaning tastes like a swimming pool, rinse again.

Ana's ruling: the cleaning date goes on the notepad in the coat closet, right under the furnace filter dates. She says the notepad has room, and she's right; it has more room than the coat closet.

Water dispenser mold and film

If you see slime, film or dark spots in the reservoir, the drip tray or around the taps, clean it before anyone drinks from it. Northern Health notes that a cooler that hasn't been cleaned for some time may need a longer soak of the sanitizing solution, and that coolers with an air filter, for the air that bubbles into the bottle as you draw water, need that filter maintained too. If the manual doesn't cover what you're seeing, ask the maker.

Changing a water cooler bottle

Northern Health's steps for a new jug:

• Wash your hands with soap and warm water
• Wipe the top and neck of the new bottle with a paper towel dipped in a weak bleach solution, about 1/4 teaspoon of bleach in 1 cup of water
• Take off the cap
• Set the bottle on the cooler, or in the base on a bottom-load model

It's also the right moment to clean the reservoir, per the same guideline.

Store spare bottles the way you'd store food. The FDA regulates bottled water as a food, and Northern Health calls it a perishable product with a limited shelf life. Keep only the stock you'll use, somewhere clean.

Two more facts from those sources explain why the cleaning matters. The FDA sets quality standards for bottled water, with maximum levels for chemical, physical, microbial and radiological contaminants, and requires it to be produced under sanitary conditions. But that covers the water in the sealed bottle. Northern Health points out that bottled water carries no disinfectant to protect it once it's opened, so what happens in your cooler is up to you.

Brands in the table

The table mixes brands by the data, not by preference. Right now it includes Avalon, Brio, Crystal Quest, Elkay and Vitapur, among others, each with the fields its listings state. Brand pages show each maker's full lineup on Amazon US.

We don't show prices. The "Check price" button opens the current Amazon US listing. For a shorter list built on a stated rule, see the best water dispensers.

Read the plate, then the manual. Then pour yourself a glass.