Anada Fonte — Drinking Fountain Types and Hygiene | anadafonte.com
Six drinking fountain types compared by how each delivers water and where it is found.
The original Bubbler of 1903–1913 shot water one inch straight into the air, and the excess water ran back down over the sides of the nozzle. That one-inch vertical jet is the reference point for every other type on this page.
Some governments require water spouts to be as long as four inches to meet health standards. The four-inch spout is a different delivery pattern: the water leaves a long projecting tube instead of rising from a short nozzle, and the drinking point sits further from the drain path.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
An arched jet throws the water in a curve, so the drinker leans in from the side rather than over the top. The jet height and the arc are set at the nozzle; the rest of the fixture is a drain path back to the supply.
Wall-mounted units fix the nozzle-and-drain assembly to a building wall, while freestanding units carry the same assembly on an independent post in a park or plaza. Both deliver water the same way; the setting changes only how the fixture is supported and serviced.
During World War I, company founder Halsey W. Taylor invented the 'Double Bubbler' drinking fountain, placing two drinking points on one fixture. It is the type that sits between the single one-inch Bubbler and the fixtures found in institutional settings today.
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