Improving Your Office Air Quality with Wall Fountains

It is a well-known fact that office buildings do not have very good air quality. Since much of the electronic equipment used in offices needs to be kept clean and dry, the windows of buildings are kept shut and the air inside stagnates and accumulates dust, carbon dioxide, stale smells, and other contaminants.



There are a number of industrial solutions to this; you can install an air circulation system as part of your building’s climate control, for instance, or equip your existing systems with HEPA filters in order to capture airborne particles, but these strategies are generally expensive, laborious, and unattractive. They also act only on the building as a whole, and can’t be used to spot-treat particular trouble spots.



Let’s consider one trouble spot, and consider how to use decorative wall fountains to remedy it: the copy room. Because of the high concentration of copiers, printers, faxes, and related equipment in copy rooms, the air is tainted with stray toner, dust kicked up by the machines’ fans, and fatigue-inducing positive ions released by the electronics. What’s more, since it is used by a wide variety of people, the copy room can be a dangerous vector for disease.

Installing wall fountains in the copy room itself is problematic, since it introduces a great deal of moisture to a room that is full of paper and sensitive electronics. However, it’s possible to place the wall fountains in the hallway just outside. Ideally, the wall fountains would be located on the opposite side of the wall, slightly offset from the door to facilitate traffic flow but visible from inside the room. Placing a fountain in this position has a number of benefits: not only does the water sound help mask the noise of printing and copying, but the flowing water releases oxygen and negative ions that counteract the fatigue-inducing effects of the carbon dioxide and positive ions already present in the air. A fountain with good air exposure will trap other pollutants and odors as well, reducing the need for central air filtration. Rather than filtering the water constantly, it can be changed periodically, to provide a low-maintenance clean air solution.



While wall fountains are not sufficient to satisfy all your clean air needs, they can make the difference between a stuffy office and a pleasant one, increasing worker morale and productivity.



Polly Godwin has been an expert on wall fountains since 1998 and is the owner of DesignerFountains.com, a company specializing in the highest quality indoor wall fountains. Visit DesignerFountains.com today for expert advice and quality water fountains.