Every time you bend over for a cool drink of water from a drinking fountain in an office lobby, school, or public building, you’re paying homage to a man named Luther Haws, inventor of the drinking fountain. All over the world, Haws brings water to the people.

It’s been almost 100 years since the idea of a sanitary communal source of water came to Haws. He was a self-employed master plumber and sheet metal contractor as well as a sanitation inspector for the city of Berkeley, Calif. One day while visiting a school, Haws noticed children drinking from a shared tin cup. This unsanitary method inspired him to design and create what he called the world’s first Sanitary Drinking Faucet featuring a bubbler that allows one to drink from a soft water flow, eliminating the need to share a cup.

The invention was enthusiastically embraced first by Berkeley schools, then the world.

Haws relocated its manufacturing hub to Sparks in the 1970s, and in 1996 built a 210,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building where all products intended for the U.S. market are crafted. Haws also runs manufacturing facilities in Singapore, Switzerland, and Brazil.

“We’re one of the few companies in this industry that still makes and markets both indoor fountains and outdoor fountains,” says Margo Mee, sales manager for the company.

In addition, the company builds and manufactures worker safety equipment such as eyewashes and drench showers.

Luther Haws’ spirit of innovation still drives the company today, now in its third and fourth generations of ownership and management. Soon company officials will introduce an innovative new shielded bubbler head, called the EnviroGardTM that promises an even greater measure of safety for places such as parks and golf courses where reclaimed water is used for irrigation.

So the next time you’re parched and you press that silver button for a cool stream of fresh water, say a little “Thanks, Luther” to the man who made it possible.