Tap water from WSSC Water's Potomac plant averaged 154 mg/L of hardness in its 2025 Tap Water Analysis Report. Water from its Patuxent plant averaged 70 mg/L. Depending on which plant supplies a building, two offices in Montgomery or Prince George's County can get noticeably different water from the same utility.
Water quality is one reason to look at a bottleless water cooler for office break rooms instead of stacking 5-gallon jugs. Here's how the two compare, what the options are, and what upkeep looks like.
Plumbed-in vs jug coolers
A jug cooler holds a large bottle upside down on top of the unit. Someone has to order the jugs, find room to store them, lift a heavy full one into place and get the empties back to the delivery driver. When the last jug runs dry on a Monday, the cooler is just a cabinet.
A bottleless, or point-of-use, cooler connects to your building's water line. Water runs through a filter inside the unit and is dispensed on demand. There's no jug delivery to schedule, no storage closet full of bottles, and no lifting.
The tradeoff is installation. A plumbed-in unit needs a nearby water line, and the location has to work for both the cooler and the line. Most break rooms with a sink already have what's needed close by.
Filtration and local water
Municipal water in the DMV is treated and tested. WSSC Water, which serves 1.9 million customers in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, reports 108 years without a single drinking water quality violation. Filtration is about taste, odor and equipment, and it matters even when the tap water is safe.
Taste can change through the year. Each spring, the Washington Aqueduct switches its disinfectant from chloramine to chlorine to clean the distribution system. During the 2026 switch, from March 23 to May 4, DC Water told customers they "may notice a slight change in the taste and smell" of their water. A filtered dispenser helps keep the water your team drinks consistent.
Hardness matters for equipment. Harder water leaves more mineral scale in anything that heats or freezes water, including hot taps and ice machines. Ask your provider how filters are matched to your local water and how often they're changed.
How to choose a bottleless water cooler for office use
Start with how your team drinks. Sky Vision's water and ice service includes Borg & Overström water systems that dispense chilled, ambient, sparkling and hot filtered water. A few things to think through:
- Sparkling water. If your fridge is full of canned seltzer, a dispenser with sparkling water cuts down on cans and recycling.
- Hot water. Useful for tea, instant oatmeal and soup. It also helps if your office coffee setup is busy in the morning.
- Contactless use. Borg & Overström systems can add an optional base that lets people dispense water by tapping illuminated controls with a foot.
- Size. Match the unit to your space and headcount. A 20-person suite and a 300-person floor need different equipment.
Don't forget the ice
Offices that host meetings, run a cafeteria or have warm-weather field teams go through a lot of ice. A dedicated ice machine with a dispenser keeps people from reaching into a bin. Sky Vision's ice machines have stainless steel construction and a low-maintenance system with self-cleaning and UV LED sanitation.
Maintenance and sanitation
Any water dispenser needs care. OSHA's sanitation standard requires that potable water be provided in all places of employment for drinking, and that portable drinking water dispensers be serviced so sanitary conditions are maintained.
With a plumbed-in cooler, the main tasks are changing filters on schedule and keeping the dispensing area clean. Sky Vision uses low-maintenance, self-cleaning systems, which takes much of that work off your facilities team. For more ideas on getting people to drink more water, see our post on workplace hydration solutions.
Water and ice service across the DMV
Sky Vision Refreshments is a local, family-owned company in the Laurel, MD area, serving Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia for 15 years. We size water coolers, dispensers and ice machines to your space and headcount. Request a free water and ice quote and we'll recommend a setup for your office.
