WaterOne’s Quench Buggy delivers trust in tap water

At community events in the midwestern summer heat, hydration is a top concern. And too often, water may only be available through purchase.

WaterOne, which serves a 17-city region outside Kansas City, sought to change that by providing free, accessible drinking water at outdoor festivities. In the process, they uncovered a very visible — and fun — way to engage the public and build rapport.

Enter the Quench Buggy — a trailer unit that delivers chilled tap water on demand from multiple access points: bottle refill stations, fountains, and for wheelchair users.

Kelly Fry, communications manager and public information officer at WaterOne, concedes it is a pricey investment, but after researching several options, they chose the Quench Buggy for its flexibility, ease of use, and accessibility. “As a water utility, we wanted to provide community engagement that would be impactful,” she said.

The Quench Buggy, which is manufactured in Canada, is more than a hydration stop; it’s also an opportunity for community members to chat directly with WaterOne staff. At every event, staff set up alongside the Quench Buggy with a tent and table stocked with water quality reports, children’s activities, and reusable bottles. (Dog bowls with water are available for furry friends as well.)

“Our main question to customers as they come up is, ‘Do you have any questions about your water?’” Fry said. “It’s our perfect chance to just check in.”

Those interactions are central to the purpose behind the Quench Buggy — illustrating tap water as a safe, reliable, and sustainable option. “We’re not selling anything and we’re not giving away bottled water,” Fry said. “The whole goal is to really educate folks that we have clean water that meets drinking water standards and that it’s available in your house all the time.”

That message resonates. Demand for the Quench Buggy routinely exceeds WaterOne’s capacity. (They have a staff member who schedules and maintains the Quench Buggy, and utility employees earn overtime for staffing it at events. An in-house lab team keeps it sanitized.) “Resource-wise, we can do 20 to 25 events a year, but interest-wise, we could have a fleet of Quench Buggies and an entire staff,” she said. There’s no cost to have the Quench Buggy at a community event; event hosts just need to be quick about requesting it since the calendar fills every summer.

“People are profusely thanking us for being at these events,” Fry said. “Everyone loves the Quench Buggy.”

This summer, WaterOne staff is looking forward to bringing the Quench Buggy to watch parties and other celebrations tied to the FIFA World Cup. (Kansas City is hosting matches beginning in June.)

Fry credits the Quench Buggy’s success to the relationships the utility has with its 17 service cities; they hosted an informational tour before they launched the unit, and that introduction was key to getting it into the communities.

The WaterOne team also collaborates across its own divisions — the fleet department keeps it functioning, the lab staff developed a process for sanitizing it, and the facilities department keeps it clean, for example. Between maintenance and staffing, it’s an all-hands-on-deck approach.

“It’s not a cheap purchase, but it’s paid dividends both for us and the community,” Fry said. “In terms of value to the community and our ability to connect with our customers, our Quench Buggy has paid for itself many times over.”