Drinking fountain actuation will never be the same.

So, you step on up to the drinking fountain and give the button a push. You fully expect it to work ... and it does! A refreshing drink of water squirts up four inches and out two. The commercial drinking fountain, as we know it, is almost 100 years old and most people think it's essentially the same today as it was when Luther Haws invented it. Not true.

While the component parts may be similar, the fountain has seen many advancements, making it ever-more efficient and trouble-free. Take the simple on/off push button, for example. An on/off switch? To be sure. But today it can serve a multitude of additional purposes.

Introducing Haws' new ActiValve™, the most revolutionary operational and maintenance advancement to the commercial drinking fountain in years. The patent pending ActiValve makes maintaining the operation of drinking fountains quick and easy.

In the center of ActiValve's large chrome push button is a small hole. Inserting an adjustment tool into the hole provides access to the flow height adjustment. No access panel removal, just a quick and easy adjustment from the front of the assembled fountain. And, the entire actuation cartridge can be removed from the front of the fountain, again with no disassembly of the cabinet whatsoever.

Additionally, the sediment screen used with ActiValve is integral to the valve unit. If it needs to be cleaned or replaced, it's located directly behind the actuation cartridge inside the valve housing. And, once again, the screen also can be serviced from the front of the fully assembled fountain.

ActiValve makes maintaining fountains easier and less expensive. But what about system safeguards? The modern fountain faces frequent changes in supply line pressure that can affect the height of the water flow. ActiValve is designed to internally compensate for line pressure fluctuations, so it can maintain a constant flow height.

Finally, ActiValve is designed to cushion the impact of abrupt on and off pressure changes on the internal componentry of the fountain. In operation, the change from no pressure in the “off” position to full supply line pressure in the “on” position, and vice versa, can occur abruptly. These abrupt changes can create a phenomenon called “water hammer,” which can dramatically reduce the lifespan of many internal fountain components. ActiValve safeguards the internal workings of the fountain by cushioning the beginning and end of each use cycle.

ActiValve is a standard feature on all new Haws drinking fountains. It also can be retrofit into most existing Haws installations.

A switch is a switch is a switch ... that is, unless it's a Haws ActiValve.

For more information visit Haws at www.hawsco.com/da.