Culligan is an 80-year old company that is driven by customer service and convenience. The company is based around a premise that every person deserves clean drinking water for less. It aims to reduce waste by selling and renting water filtration systems, softeners and coolers that allow people to cut back on buying plastic bottles that aren't good for the environment or, in some instances, for the health of the people drinking it.

Culligan brings an interesting touch of customer service that is unmatched in recent times. Too often in this tech-driven world, people become isolated and opt to purchase just about anything sight-unseen from the internet, where there is not much of a face to put with a name. At Culligan, they pride themselves on supporting the mentality of neighbors helping neighbors. This premise is one of the reasons why there is still a Culligan man or woman who is called upon to help you. This representative lives within a certain radius of your home and is, therefore, better able to understand the current state of the water offered in your neighborhood. The Culligan rep will travel to your home, speak to you about options and let you choose which route you want to take. Whether it is a whole-home softening system or a water cooler, the Culligan rep will walk you through the steps personally to ensure you are satisfied with the process and the product. This personal touch sets Culligan apart and makes the brand a success to this day.

A water cooler used to be exclusively for the office. It is a dispensing system that allows individuals to get glasses of filtered water through a dispenser system that utilizes a five-gallon bottle of water. Historically, the five-gallon bottle was affixed to the top, tipped over precariously and left upside down until it was gone. These days, there have been some improvements in the system. You can still get the traditional bottle-down cooler, or you can opt for one that slides into a bottom cabinet, right side up. No need for lifting and tipping. The water cooler has expanded and become part of many homes, offering a cheaper alternative to cleaner water than whole-home filtration and softening systems.

Culligan offers many different types of whole-home water softeners and filtration systems. They also offer smaller-scale water filtration in the form of their five-gallon water cooler and bottle-less water cooler.

Culligan does not sell its own water; it distributes other retailers' water. While you don't have a choice as to what supplier you get the Culligan water from, you do get to choose what type of water you prefer. You have the option of selecting the kind of bottled water you prefer between demineralized, spring, filtered, distilled or filtered by reverse osmosis.

First off, you meet with a representative who will do in-home testing of your water quality. If you are not interested in obtaining a water softener or whole-home filtration system, you can either indicate that to them at the time of the appointment or before setting the appointment. If you know you want water cooler service only, then you may be able to bypass the testing sequence.

Next, once you've established the type of product you want to get, the rep will show you the options Culligan has available. We were able to find information on the standard bottled water cooler and the bottle-free option. Our summary is below in the next section.

Once you choose your product, you select a service level and frequency. Culligan has packages that start at $9.99 a month which gives you a serviced water cooler rental and a preset number of five-gallon bottles of water. The water will be delivered monthly and swapped out for the empty containers at each interval. Once every quarter, the rep will pay you an in-home visit and service your cooler to make sure it is clean and functioning correctly. You can then discuss alternatives if this product isn't working for you, or if you need to change the amount of water you receive per month.

The five-gallon watercooler is space saving and convenient. It allows you to choose from three different water temperatures. Water is filtered through several coil elements which helps heat or cool it to the temperature you want. The cooler is low maintenance and very easy to use. With a pretty nice variety of choices, you will be able to find something that matches your style and décor throughout your home.

One of the products Culligan offers as an alternative to the five-gallon water dispensing cooler is the bottle-free water cooler. This product is hooked directly to a water source, typically the kitchen faucet, and filters water on demand. In this respect, it always allows you to have clean and fresh drinking water without running out. There are no large bottles to fumble around with and no service calls to restock your water bottles. The unit is unobtrusive, and you have the choice between a countertop model and a freestanding one. The type of unit you choose will depend, in large part, on your kitchen setup and space along with your usage. Your Culligan representative will be able to help you choose which bottle-less water dispenser will work best for you, and the rep will still visit your home to clean the unit and ensure the filtration system is clean and in good working order. The frequency with which the representative comes depends, in part, on the amount of water the cooler processes.

When looking for testimonials, we were able to find nothing but praise for the company and its level of service and products. People who had the water cooler service said that technicians were punctual, willing to go out of their way to accommodate changing schedules and needs and always ready to help recommend more products. We found one review which recounted a bad experience which resulted in the customer discontinuing the service. However, we gave no weight to this since it was the only one of the many we reviewed.