Parts of a Water Cooler – Labeled Diagram

All 14 parts on the diagram

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Bottle and cabinet 2

Water bottle When empty it is lifted off. A full one takes its place.
Cabinet Floor models stand on the ground like this one. Smaller ones sit on a table.

Dispensing area 5

Indicator lights Each light stands for one job.
Cold water faucet Also called a tap or a spigot.
Hot water faucet It carries the child safety lock.
Child safety lock It keeps small children from pouring hot water.
Drip tray It sits under both faucets.

Inside 4

Probe A tube pushed down into the bottle on a bottom-loading cooler. A pump lifts the water.
Reservoir Makers also call it the cold tank.
Hot tank Also called the hot water tank.
Compressor It needs air round the cooler to stay cool.

On the back 3

Condenser Some manuals call it the coils or the heat radiator.
Drain plug Also called the drain cap.
Power switch Many coolers have one switch for hot water and one for cold.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it: Wikipedia, Water dispenser (text only); and makers' manuals read as full text on archive.org: a Soleus Air hot and cold water cooler (https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-20282), an Avanti water dispenser (https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-7293129), a Primo bottom-loading dispenser (https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5773451), a PUR water cooler (https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-20258) and a Kolin bottom-load dispenser (https://archive.org/details/kolin-kwd-blc-2088b-manual-2026). No maker is named on the page. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; a schematic of no maker's cooler, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The parts of a water cooler, or parts of a water dispenser, are few: a bottle upside down on a cabinet, a reservoir and a hot tank inside, and two faucets over a drip tray.

Read the full guide

Front first, then inside

Numbers 1 and 2 are the whole cooler: the water bottle and the cabinet. Numbers 3 to 7 are the dispensing area, enlarged: the indicator lights, the cold and hot water faucets, the child safety lock and the drip tray. Numbers 8 to 14 are in the cut-through: the probe in the neck of the bottle, the reservoir, the hot tank and the compressor, and on the back the condenser, the drain plug and the power switch.

A wall-mounted drinking fountain is also called a water cooler; this page is the free-standing bottle kind.
On a bottom-loading cooler the bottle stands inside the cabinet, and a pump lifts the water through the probe.

Questions and answers

How does a water cooler work?

The bottle is tipped upside down onto the cooler and a probe pierces its cap. Water runs down into the reservoir, where it is chilled. A hot tank heats water for the hot faucet. Pressing a faucet pours the water into a cup.

What are the parts of a water dispenser called?

Water bottle, cabinet, probe, reservoir, hot tank, cold and hot water faucets, child safety lock, drip tray, indicator lights, compressor, condenser, power switch and drain plug. Water cooler is another name for a dispenser that chills the water.

How does the water get cold in a water cooler?

In most coolers a compressor pumps refrigerant through a coil that touches the reservoir and chills the water inside. The heat taken from the water leaves through the condenser on the back.

What is the child safety lock on a water cooler?

A catch on the hot water faucet. Hot water pours only while the catch is held, which keeps small children from pouring it.