Hydration equipment in K-12 environments must stand up to a lot. Drinking water dispensers need to be rugged, because sometimes students don’t know their own strength (and some, as we know, like to cause mischief); they need to resist the spread of germs from being touched so frequently; and they need superior filtration to protect growing bodies from contaminants found in water, including lead. Finally, they need to be cost-effective and efficient to operate in order to protect the district’s bottom line.

OASIS® International introduces the K-12 Bottle Filler to address all these concerns and more. Any school can easily and quickly put this specially designed unit to work in their hallways, because it is a virtual plug-and-play retrofit to existing ADA-compliant OASIS drinking fountains dating back to 1995—and is itself ADA-compliant when used with OASIS models PG8AC or P8AM drinking fountains.

The single-piece polymer cabinet won’t rust or dent, and its polymer construction is less expensive than metal. The large 13-inch alcove on the bottle filler fits most tall sports bottles. The K-12 Bottle Filler’s mechanical activation uses no electricity for dispensing, so it costs less to operate and still works even during power outages. The large antimicrobial copper activation button is easy to push and helps reduce the potential transfer of pathogens.

Each unit comes with the new high-performance VersaFilter II, a certified 3,000-gallon lead reduction filter that treats water to both the bottle filler and the fountain. It provides a flexible water treatment solution that effectively reduces lead, cysts, and other contaminants in water while also filtering out chlorine taste and odor. It is tested and certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 and NSF/ANSI Standard 42.

High-capacity VersaFilter II reduces the number of filter changeouts required in a year and allows them to be completed in minutes when it’s time, thanks to several new features found on the K-12 Bottle Filler. First, the filter is housed within the bottle filler on top of the drinking fountain. The bottle filler tips forward for easier access to the filter, with no need to disconnect any water lines or fittings or remove the front apron from the unit. Next, the included tether keeps the K-12 Bottle Filler stable during filter changeout, eliminating any need to set it aside or on the ground. Plus, automatic shut-off inside the filter head eliminates the need to shut off the water supply.

All of these features add up to a bottle filler that protects students, is easy to install and maintain, and has a lower cost of ownership.

Research and development professionals in the drinking fountain industry have long known that ultraviolet light is highly effective at inactivating harmful bacteria and other pathogens found in water. The challenge has been harnessing the UV light so that it is mercury-free, draws minimal energy, and becomes a cost-effective new feature that will appeal to end users. To meet this challenge, OASIS® International is introducing its new QUASAR™ bottle fillers.

QUASAR™ bottle fillers, for the first time ever, utilize an energy-efficient, ecologically smart, light-emitting diode (LED) to deliver UV light, specifically UV-C, to cleanse drinking water as it comes out of the dispenser.

QUASAR fillers achieve a 99.99% reduction of common waterborne pathogens, including giardia, legionella, listeria, cryptosporidium, shigella, and E. coli, among others. When paired with OASIS water filters, also available with each unit, QUASAR provides the ultimate in safe, pure, pathogen-free drinking water.

QUASAR’s exclusive UV-C LED is active directly at the dispense point, offering a number of advantages. First, it disinfects not only the water but the dispense point itself—protecting its surface from accidental hand touching or other contact that might carry bacteria. Second, the LED is always ready for action, requiring no time to “warm up” like conventional UV lamps. Not only do those traditional UV lights need time to get ready to disinfect, they get physically warm. QUASAR’s UV LEDs won’t heat the water, assuring a refreshing draw every time. Cool operation also means no fouling, no scaling, and no mineral deposits.

UV light exists between visible light and x-ray on the electromagnetic spectrum. It is divided into four subcategories: V-UV, UV-C, UV-B, and UV-A. UV-C photons are desirable for protection against pathogens because they penetrate organic cells and damage their DNA, rendering them incapable of reproduction and microbiologically dead.

QUASAR’s LEDs treat water without using harmful chemicals or altering taste. Where conventional UV lamps contain mercury, a hazardous material that requires special disposal, UV-C LEDs are mercury-free and easy to dispose of at the end of service life (which is estimated at three years or more). QUASAR’s LED assembly is self-contained and easy to replace.

For added protection, QUASAR’s alcove is manufactured with FRESHIELD®, OASIS’ exclusive silver-based antimicrobial compound, to prevent degradation and deterioration caused by bacterial growth.
QUASAR marks a bold new step forward from OASIS and strategic partner AquiSense Technologies, the world’s largest supplier of UV-C LED disinfection systems, in the point-of-use battle against waterborne pathogens.

To find out more about the exciting new pathogen-fighting abilities of QUASAR, contact OASIS at 800.646.2747 or info@oasiscoolers.com.

Electricity and water usually don’t go together, but what if you need electricity to get a drink from the nearest water cooler? That’s the situation many people find themselves in when the power goes out and the only water source is electric coolers and bottle fillers. Luckily, Oasis® offers numerous bottle fillers with mechanical activation to assure users can fill their bottles to maintain hydration, even in a blackout. In fact, Oasis has every bottle filler configuration available with mechanical or electronic activation.

If you think a power outage is nothing to plan for, consider that the electrical grid loses power 285% more often now than in 1984, when data collection first began. Regardless of whether it’s aging electrical infrastructure, growing population, or natural disasters—each poses a special threat, and, depending on duration, clean drinking water becomes a matter of health at best and survival at worst.

Oasis Mechanical AquaPointe® Sports Bottle Fillers dispense water during power outages. Although AquaPointe fillers feature high-efficiency electrical cooling systems for cold, refreshing water when the grid is functioning properly, when the power goes out, water will keep flowing with the touch of a button.

The Oasis VersaFiller Bottle Filler Retrofit turns an existing water cooler into a bottle-filling station. This upgrade encourages greater use of refillable bottles, which expands green initiatives and has an exponential impact on the environment.

Choose the Oasis PWSBF model for mechanical activation that works without electricity, or the Oasis PWEBF that includes an electronic sensor for touch-free activation and a built-in bottle counter.