Refill station, smart flavored water or both? A practical look at the questions that decide the right fit for your space.
Replacing bottled water and canned drinks is one of the simplest sustainability wins for an office, campus or venue. The harder part is choosing the right equipment. The best system depends less on brand and more on how people actually use water in your space.
Start with what people drink today
If most people refill bottles with plain water, a purified refill station is usually the best value. If your team buys sparkling water or flavored drinks, a smart dispenser with flavors and carbonation replaces those purchases too.
- Plain, chilled water at volume: a multi-stage purified refill station such as FloWater.
- Still, sparkling and flavored drinks: a smart dispenser such as Bevi or Drop Refill.
- Mixed needs across a large site: a combination, placed where each is used most.
Check the site before you choose
Each system has different requirements for floor space, power, water line and drain. For example, Drop Refill runs from a standard outlet and a 3/8" water line, while the FloWater station needs a water line plus a drain and professional installation.
A site assessment confirms these details, along with ADA reach and traffic flow, before anything is ordered.
Plan for service from day one
Filters, CO₂ and flavor cartridges all need replacing on a schedule. Ask how monitoring works, who handles service and what is included, so the system keeps performing after installation.
Match the system to traffic and placement
Where people drink water matters almost as much as what they want to drink. A single break room setup may work for one office, while a larger campus, school or industrial site may need different equipment in different zones. Placing a purified refill station near higher-volume bottle filling points can make sense when most use is plain, chilled water. A smart dispenser may fit better in shared office areas where people want still, sparkling or flavored drinks during the day.
This is where planning the workplace water system around real traffic flow helps. Instead of picking one machine type for every location, look at how each area is used. Entry areas, employee lounges, fitness spaces, waiting areas and production or back-of-house zones can all have different patterns. The article’s mixed-use approach already points to a practical option: combine systems across a large site and place each one where that style of drinking happens most often.
A site assessment should confirm the basics before equipment is ordered, including floor space, power, water line, drain needs, ADA reach and traffic flow. That step can also help identify whether one unit is enough or whether the site would work better with multiple placements. If any location details, access limits or utility conditions are not yet confirmed, note them as TBD so planning stays clear from the start.
