Wall Drinking aquaBUBBLER

The most important function of any drinking fountain is to entice people to use it and to deliver an enjoyable, rewarding user experience.

Current research reveals that water drinking, rather than being a simple physical act, is a complex behaviour that relies on certain conditions and cues being present. A drinking fountain must be visible and recognisable from a distance and aesthetically appealing in order for people to decide to use it. These attributes are embodied by all other aquaBUBBLER products and so it was simply a matter of applying them to the WDa.

We wanted it to be possible for the WDa to be mounted on any type of wall; this goal was to guide our design process. Maximising the surface area of the back of the unit and engineering a bracket that would allow extremely secure wall attachment allowed us to achieve this objective.

Balancing space efficiency with visibility was another important consideration. The WDa was designed to be low profile so as to not create an obstacle in walkways, yet protrude from the wall sufficiently to be easily seen from a distance. Comfortably accommodating a wheelchair underneath, with both tap and controls within easy reach, was a non-negotiable criterion.

The end user, the client, the installer, and the maintenance person have different reasons to interact with drinking fountains. There are therefore a wide range of different needs and expectations of the product.

Based on experience with our existing models, we knew that the client’s expectations would include: functionality, reliability, serviceability, and attractive appearance. Many clients stipulate inclusivity as a criterion for purchase and are only satisfied when the item proves popular with end user. The client requires installation to be easy and straightforward for the plumber with minimum need for maintenance.

Functional and usable: The WDa features the aquaBUBBLER proprietary tap. In the case of the WDa, the stainless steel push button is located prominently at the front of the unit body, and is easy to see due to its visual contrast with the surrounding body material . It requires gross (rather than fine) motor movements to operate and low newton force both to initiate and maintain water flow. The water arc produced is consistent and reliable, and falls at the ideal angle for drinking.

Thoughtful and inclusive:

The cutaway section below the bowl is contoured to comfortably accommodate a wheelchair, making the WDa AS1428 compliant. However, wheelchair accessibility is only one aspect of drinking fountain inclusivity.

Product design tends to focus on able bodied adults, historically young white males. The resulting products tend therefore to not be ideal for people with smaller hands (eg. women and children), or for those with low hand strength (eg. young children and elderly people). Vision level and motor skill capability also vary significantly across the population and affect how we interact with products.

We wanted to incorporate genuine inclusivity into the WDa by ensuring that everyone would be able to see and recognise our drinking fountain from a distance, and to be able to drink from it autonomously. We achieved this through high pigment in-material colours for visibility, distinctive silhouette for recognisability, and easily seen and operated controls for people with low vision and reduced dexterity/ hand strength.

WELS tested and validated: The WDa is both WELS and Watermark certified.

Open and scalable:

The WDa may be installed in series along a wall to provide multiple drinking points at comfortable intervals and at different heights. Appropriate horizontal spacing of the individual units confers a comfortable and dignified drinking experience for several users simultaneously.

A primary reason for dehydration is that people simply forget to drink. An essential function of any drinking fountain is therefore to remind people to drink.

Drinking fountains that are (a) bulky and ungainly looking, or (b) so slim and discreet as to be difficult to see, are ineffective reminders to drink and tend not to entice use. Drinking fountains made of steel visually blend into the surrounding built environment and may go unnoticed. Another drawback to steel is that people anticipate it to be hot in Summer and cold in Winter, and may be apprehensive about touching the material.

Despite its compact size, the WDa is highly visible due to its densely pigmented body colour. Once seen it in the environment, its pleasing aesthetics provide encouragement to engage with it. Aesthetics also contribute to the enjoyment of using the WDa, increasing the likelihood of returning to it. Visits repeated over time are the basis for the formation of water drinking habits; beneficial health behaviours that ultimately improve public health outcomes.

We had the further goal of creating a model appropriate for repeating along a wall in order to supply drinking points at various heights. We combined the WDa with the Wall Refill aquaBUBBLER to create a model that incorporated both drinking and refill capabilities, calling it the Wall DrinkFill aquaBUBBLER. In contrast to comparable products that fuse drinking and refill capabilities into the same unit ( which significantly hampers the functionality of each) we deliberately chose to keep them separate. We wanted to allow the client to decide how much clearance around each unit was required, as well as to choose an appropriate height for each unit. Adequate clearance would improve not only the physical comfort for two people to drink and refill simultaneously, but also increase their social comfort.

Inquiring into the challenges faced by our target audience in accessing drinking water and interrogating oversimplified traditional assumptions about water drinking allowed us to come up with an effective design to help tackle dehydration.

Thanks to its pleasing aesthetics, ergonomic design and reliable functionality, the WDa encourages people of all heights and abilities to drink and helps them consolidate good hydration habits. This outcome is of benefit to society (through improving public health outcomes) and the environment (through reduced reliance on single use water bottles).

Visibility and aesthetic appeal:
Forgetting to drink is a leading cause of dehydration. Raising the profile of water drinking through the installation of highly visible, attractive and functional drinking fountains is an important step towards combating dehydration.

Bold in-material body colours and pleasing contours combine to create an enjoyable user experience that encourages repeat visits to the WDa and helps users form good hydration habits.

Visibility of the WDa can be further increased by installing several units in series and choosing colours that contrast strongly with the mounting wall. Functionality to refill bottles can be added by locating the WDa in close proximity to the Wall Refill aquaBUBBLER (WRa).

Inclusivity:
The thought paid to genuine inclusivity in the design of the WDa goes beyond the standard concern of wheelchair accessibility, and extends to vision impairment, physical coordination, and hand size/strength.

Catering to the different needs of all individuals that make up society represents a design achievement for Victoria and Australia. The design of drinking fountains is not often interrogated beyond the basic functionality of dispensing water. Having undergone a professional design process and being manufactured and assembled entirely in Australia (over 90% in Victoria), the WDa demonstrates to the rest of the world Australia’s capacity for thoughtful, inclusive design.

Local Manufacture:
As with all aquaBUBBLER products, the WDa is manufactured entirely in Australia, keeping the carbon emissions associated with product transport to a minimum.

Sustainable Materials and Practices:
WDa’s materials are either recycled, recyclable, or part of a reconditioning and exchange program. From the beginning of the design process of the WDa, we invested in injection moulding for the unit body in order to allow its manufacture from 100% recyclable plastic. The polymer material is recyclable, and its production has a significantly lower carbon footprint than that of steel. The carbon emissions created by polyethylene production as compared to that of steel are similar by weight (1700kg per tonne for polyethylene as opposed to 1750kg for steel). However, the polyethylene body of the WDa weighs considerably less than the body of a comparable steel product, meaning that there are proportionally lower emissions created in the manufacture of the WDa.

Aesthetics for Waste Reduction:
Using a drinking fountain removes the need for single use water bottles, thereby reducing the materials wastage, energy consumption and pollution associated with plastic bottles.

All functional drinking fountains provide a valid alternative to single use plastic water bottles — in theory. In practice, however, they are often overlooked and underused due to their low visibility in the environment and to their cumbersome appearance. Drinking fountains that are difficult to see, and those with a utilitarian aesthetic, tend not to promote uptake. Despite their functionality, they are ineffective at reducing the need for single use plastic bottles.

In contrast, the friendly colours, smooth contours and pleasant tactility of the WDa invite use and deliver an enjoyable, rewarding user experience. Positive feelings about drinking fountains cause people to return to them and establish water drinking habits around them, which ultimately reduces reliance on single use plastic bottles.