Living in Southern California, one of the most health conscious regions in the country, it is pretty much expected that everyone has a reusable water bottle bouncing around in their bag. We see them all over and it has become a convenient way to stay hydrated all day long. What most people don’t realize is how much bacteria you could be carrying around and drinking. We are here to give you the scoop on how important it is to clean your water bottle daily.
What you need to know:
The average person will usually drink their full bottle of water and simply refill it and use it again. It’s just water right? How dirty could the bottle be? Wrong. Often times saliva left in your water from backwash can breed dangerous bacteria and cause harsh symptoms such as, nausea and stomach bugs. Especially in the popular bottles that are not made out of clear material. The darkness in the bottle and room temperature conditions are a perfect breeding ground for this bacteria to grow.
The solution:
So, how do you avoid this? Well clearly cleaning your bottle more often is key, but simply rinsing it with soap and water is not enough. It is always best to scrub the inside of the bottle, cap, and any sort of straw it comes with, then let it dry out until there is no moisture left inside. What soap should you use? A bleach-based soap is the most ideal to kill all bacteria, but if you are opposed to bleach products, vinegar works as well. At the VERY least be sure to empty out leftover water to rid it of germs at the end of the day. If this seems like to much work or if you are now worried about bacteria in your water bottle, invest in a self-cleaning bottle. A bit pricey but worth the clean! A company called LARQ has created a bottle with the latest clean water technology using UV lights to kill the bacteria in your water.
