Most individuals do not know the difference between a water dispenser and a water cooler, and often interchange the words, but they are definitely not the same; all water coolers are dispensers, but not all water dispensers are water coolers.
Water Dispensers
The definition of a water dispenser is a container that pulls liquids from a storage tank and shells it out or dispenses it via a tap. Examples of common water dispensers are bathroom or kitchen taps, a water jug with a tap, a water dispenser system in a fridge, or a large bottle or flask that dispenses water via a tap.
The water in a water dispenser is not necessarily cooled or heated; it could just be plain tap water or any other liquid that one would like to put into a dispensing container.
Water Coolers
Water coolers on the other hand, are either storage tanks that hold a large inverted water-bottle on top that dispenses water via a tap or which are plumbed into a main water line. The big difference is that a water cooler has a compressor that is designed to chill the water; some modern water coolers offer not only chilled water but also ambient and hot water features that are dispensed via separate taps.
Water coolers are becoming more popular every year as individuals seek to find the healthiest drinking water which is no longer the tap water, even in countries where the quality of tap water is said to be good. This is due to the fact that research has shown that even so-called “good quality†tap water contains vestiges of chlorine or fluoride, which are used to purify and sanitise the water to make it fit for drinking. The problem is that chlorine by-products in drinking water or in water vapour from showers can increase risk for cancer and fluoride is also a carcinogen which has been linked to bone cancer.
