Latest News From Ebac Watercoolers

Ebac’s Fight Against Bacteria

Supplying to ‘high risk’ areas such as Hospitals and Schools presents a host of challenges to any Watercooler supplier – these types of establishments have strict regulations in place and the coolers need to be fully compliant, not only to ensure that regulations are adhered to, but to ensure that the safety of the public is maintained.

Minimising the risk of the spread of bacteria is top of Ebac’s agenda when ensuring that their coolers can be used in all environments - including ‘high risk’ locations.

“If a cooler is used by a sick patient in a hospital it could end up contaminating every other person who uses that cooler with the same illness if it does not have effective technology to prevent the spread of bacteria” commented Ebac Technical Director Phillip Walton. “To this end Ebac have introduced a number of features designed to reduce the spread of bacteria”.

One of Ebac’s most recent examples would be their newly launched FMax POU which features a number of Ebac’s technological enhancements to minimise the spread of bacteria, including:

• 100% Sanitisation System – When it comes to sanitisation, Ebac don’t clean or disinfect parts like other companies – they simply replace them. All water contact parts are replaced by ejecting the old filters and inserting the new ones which means 100% sanitisation occurs every time. Therefore Ebac coolers do not have the bacterial vulnerability that might come from a maintenance engineer who is in a hurry or poorly trained and misses a small area of the cooler when cleaning with chemicals and fluids.

• 'Direct Dispense' System – Unlike other POU coolers, the FMax POU does not hold a large quantity of water which is vulnerable to bacteria growth. Instead it holds the water which still contains Chlorine – which dramatically reduces the risk of contamination – and then removes the Chlorine using a filter just before water is dispensed.

• Duplex Dispense Nozzle – The actual point of dispense is protected by an outer ‘shield’, which ensures that a users fingers cannot come into contact with, and contaminate, the water supply. Your fingertip alone has around 32 million bacteria on it - if you finger did come into contact with the water, that bacteria would travel up the flow of water into the reservoir where it would contaminate and multiply further.

• Anti-Bacterial Dispense Handles – The handles on the FMax POU are made from Stainless Steel which has natural Anti-Bacterial properties; this inhibits bacteria growth and reduces the risk of contamination.

• Drip Tray Evaporation – Most coolers have a drip tray underneath your cup to catch all the water spills – however, as Drip Trays are rarely emptied, this becomes a breeding ground for bacteria – which is why Ebac’s Drip Tray transports the water down to a small reservoir on the compressor which then evaporates harmlessly into the atmosphere.

Ebac’s Technical Director Phillip Walton summarised “We try to minimise the risk of bacterial contamination on all of our coolers – and in High Risk areas this is more important than ever. Overall we feel that we have responded well to the new demands of these sectors with a number of unique innovations which dramatically reduce the spread of bacteria”

For further press information please contact Richard Gates at Ebac on 01388 605061 or Richard.gates@ebac.com

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Ebac is a privately owned group of companies mainly focused on manufacturing. The Group also has interests in leisure, bottled water and product design. The Group has been the market leader in Western Europe for watercoolers since the mid-90s and has held a prominent position in the European dehumidifier market for over 20 years. For the past two decades Ebac has continued to expand its UK operations when others have moved their production facilities elsewhere. The Group now employs 350 people in the UK's North East, but retains a strong export focus with 70% of its turnover coming from Continental Europe. Ebac's success is built on its dedication to quality and innovation in all areas, from manufacturing and design to HR and customer support.

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