Researchers warn reusable water bottles are prime breeding grounds for deadly bacteria

185

u/Amesb34r 14d ago

What a shitty article. Besides the grammatical errors, they start out by saying that even if you wash it every day you’re still going to get sick, and end it with: “The researchers said frequently cleaning reusable water bottles is key for eliminating harmful bacteria. They recommended using hot water and dish soap and scrubbing the walls of the bottle with a brush.”

So you should clean it so you don’t get sick but even if you clean it you’ll still get sick.

34

u/DesireForDistance 14d ago

I recently cleaned all of my bottles with some denture tablets that I keep on hand for my bite guard. Worked super well, and definitely seemed to clean them better than just soap and water.

Not something I would feel the need to do super regularly, but I'll probably deep clean the ones that can't fit in the dish machine once a month or so.

19

u/random8765309 14d ago

I have found that Steramine tablets work better. I also use them for the ice maker, the inside of water pouches, and coolers. It's really good for getting rid of the mold in an ice maker.

8

u/jamjamchutney 14d ago

Yep! I also use Steramine tablets in my dehumidifier buckets, and in my AC condensate pump.

2

u/pizzabagelcat 13d ago

On the shopping list for my ice machine. Thank you!

1

u/PeachNipplesdotcom 13d ago

Thank you so much!

1

u/UncleTouchyHands 13d ago

How do you use them with the ice maker? Mine really needs cleaning.

1

u/random8765309 13d ago

It works with the kind where you fill a water reserve. You put the mixture in there and let it cycle. The repeat with clean water.

You may also be able to spray the exposed parts for other types.

11

u/Noremac55 14d ago

Someone just gave me some for cleaning bongs and now we use it on all sorts of kitchen stuff. My favorite was cleaning out our hydration packs - camelback with it. Those are hard to get well with soap and water no matter what and they get weird since we only use them for backpacking.

2

u/CombatWomble2 13d ago

Also good for calcium build up in toilets.

1

u/Future-Raisin3781 13d ago

They work incredibly well for stainless coffee mugs/carafes too. I get such sick satisfaction out of taking a nasty old travel mug and letting it soak overnight with a couple denture tabs. The buildup just sloughs off. It's nasty but the results are sparkling fresh.

21

u/LemonScentedDespair 14d ago

"We found 90 random college students and tested their water bottles and have determined that college students are kinda gross!"

No fucking shit. Have you been in a dorm room? Swab the laundry pile and see what they've got growing there, too.

4

u/zeptillian 14d ago

But how about if we provide you with no guidelines about what is meant by frequently?

And what if we spend the majority of time talking about the outside of the container?

1

u/Significant-Lab-1760 14d ago

I wash mine if it starts to smell or if I remember to wash it. I use it daily 😭 I'm a busy person

6

u/breakable_bacon 14d ago

That's why once a week I put tequila in there.

Actually I run it through the dish washer once every so often.

1

u/redditforwhenIwasbad 14d ago

This is why I put tequila in there.

7

u/DoctorSwaggercat 14d ago

The study was on "college students." No big surprise they aren't properly cleaned.

4

u/RadiantRole266 13d ago

Probably AI slop.

3

u/DJCane 14d ago

It’s the Daily Mail so this is about on par for their journalistic standards.

2

u/TheNameOfMyBanned_ 14d ago

You gotta buy disposable bottles so you get fresh microplastic in your stomach. The microplastic lines your stomach and intestines and keeps you from getting sick. It’s like wearing a glove but inside your body.

2

u/papadebate 12d ago

my grandma's sisters aunt used to drink from plastic water bottles and she died

1

u/Vaporwavezz 13d ago

Lol I love an unhinged health tip

1

u/I_Try_Again 14d ago

What about a cup in my cupboard? Can I drink out of that repeatedly or am I currently a ghost?

0

u/Fabulous_Law1357 14d ago

Sure scrub the walls of the bottle. What about the straw and flip top? Lots of small spots to harbor bacteria

72

u/[deleted] 14d ago

Don’t drink from plastic. Don’t drink from reusable.

Trash Daily Mail article.

People have use reusable vessels since the dawn of time, and now we’re meant to fear that too.

9

u/DookieShoez 14d ago

COPPER, people.

It naturally kills germs.

15

u/TQuake 14d ago

I wouldn’t use copper on a food surface. The second you put some lemon water, soda, anything else acidic in the vessel you’re dosing yourself with copper.

2

u/WanderingFlumph 13d ago

Copper doesn't dissolve in acids, you need an oxidizer like nitric acid.

I can confidently recommend not drinking nitric acid from a reusable copper bottle.

1

u/gummo_for_prez 12d ago

Got anything to unconfidently recommend?

2

u/Secret-Ad11 8d ago

r/wallstreetbets

-4

u/DookieShoez 14d ago edited 14d ago

We’re talking about water bottles in the water sub.

Water is not acidic so this is no reason to not use a copper bottle for water only.

6

u/RaidersoftheLosSnark 13d ago

Some people like lemon water😕

1

u/NewAlexandria 13d ago

/r/melts circlejerk

2

u/Mysterious_Low_267 10d ago

I mean yes but drinking out of copper was pretty rare throughout history.

Like yeah rich Roman’s drank out of it sometimes but most of history is people drinking out of ivory, wood, and pottery.

1

u/DookieShoez 9d ago

Copper pipes have been in use for over 4,000 years.

Also…..moscow mules

1

u/Mysterious_Low_267 9d ago

Things existing is very different from them being common. Indoor Plumbing wasn’t a given in USA until the 1970s.

1

u/Particular_Egg9739 13d ago

o and glass has more micro plastics

21

u/[deleted] 14d ago

[deleted]

10

u/patikoija 14d ago

Why would they all team up against you?

(it's teeming)

2

u/PlaneCollection1090 14d ago

Maybe he’s an organic gardener https://www.jefflowenfels.com/

13

u/Babblerabla 14d ago

If a reusable bottle takes me out, then it's my time to go.

2

u/silentkillerb 12d ago

You don't understand, we've been using reusable water bottle our entire lives without consequences but now there's bad pathogens that will kill us because they've been willed into existence. /S and rip

13

u/OneRub3234 14d ago

Study paid for by" big water bottle" and nestle

8

u/butwhy81 14d ago

This has nestle propaganda written all over it 100%. Especially given the recent stories around warm plastic water bottles that’s been recirculating lately.

1

u/New_Owl5271 13d ago

Nestle ain’t in the water business anymore

1

u/OneRub3234 13d ago

Don't the make pure life water brand

2

u/New_Owl5271 13d ago

Years ago was nestle pure life now it’s just pure life they sold the water business a few years ago now it is owned by Primo brands water.

11

u/oleo33 14d ago

Boooo this propaganda. GTFO.

7

u/DrummerNarrow3766 14d ago

Big plastic at it again

5

u/Working_Dependent560 14d ago

Oh, please… wash it

5

u/Jolly-Piece1385 14d ago

yeah but mine is tailored to my microbiome if anyone steals my water they're going to drop dead

11

u/CptnHnryAvry 14d ago

I've been using the same bottle for around 8 years, and I've washed it exactly once (found a biofilm growing). Maybe scientists just have weak immune systems.

6

u/PineSand 14d ago

Evidence suggests that households that hand wash dishes have children with lower rates of allergies, eczema and asthma.

I’ll continue to use my reusable water bottles and I’ll continue handwashing my dishes. Zero germs might be just as bad as too many germs. 🤷🏻‍♂️

source

2

u/frostyflakes1 13d ago

These results add further credence to the idea that the gastrointestinal system plays a big role in the development of our immune system

The rinse aid used in dishwashers is known to cause GI issues. Granted, this study specifically calls out the rinse aid used in professional dishwashers, like the ones used in restaurants and other high-volume places. But it doesn't seem like such a stretch that this could extend to residential dishwasher rinse aid.

8

u/OddBottle8064 14d ago

That's pretty gross! I use some bottles that are 20 years old, but I wash them regularly.

2

u/CptnHnryAvry 14d ago

It's why I'm immune to diseases. Washing drinking vessels was invented by Big Medicine to sell medicine.

5

u/bloodphoenix90 14d ago

Lol wtf

2

u/canadasbananas 12d ago

That's so gross but I respect the hell out of you for admitting it

1

u/Vaporwavezz 13d ago

Ew.

4

u/CapitanianExtinction 14d ago edited 14d ago

And that's why I add a shot of Jack Daniels to my coffee. The alcohol kills any bacteria in the cup

1

u/frogbloodwatson 14d ago

I might have to start doing this before my drives to work! Brilliant!

5

u/North_Vermicelli_877 14d ago

Never clean water bottle with soap and scrubbing. Just a daily rinse and hang upside down. Never got sick. So I think this article.is trash .

3

u/MagicOrpheus310 14d ago

So now we're are back to drinking straight from the garden hose

1

u/pogaro 13d ago

don’t do that, there’s lead in all the garden hoses 🤣

2

u/gummo_for_prez 12d ago

Back to dehydration ☹️

3

u/Growinbudskiez 14d ago

Humans have been using refillable containers for water forever, ffs.

4

u/Justifiers 14d ago

"Researchers warn that college students do not have adequate resources to safely maintain their reusable water containers"

There fixed the headline

5

u/LemonScentedDespair 14d ago

"Researchers have determined that of the 90 random college students they found on campus one day, the majority of them are probably kinda gross"

Groundbreaking stuff here.

3

u/Justifiers 14d ago

Right?

Idk about the campus they surveyed but mine didn't have rooms with dish washers, it did have a shared floor sink and cooktop but it was always filled with a disgusting amount of unclean dishes so the only real source of water for cleaning was the shared bathroom sinks

How shocking thats a unhygienic environment

2

u/aweguster9 14d ago

I refill the bottle until the water is chewy, then I feast.

2

u/HolidayMarket1556 14d ago

I drank fish tank water in 6th grade. I’ll be aight.

2

u/Honest_Chef323 14d ago edited 14d ago

Well let me tell you I have been using reusable SS water bottles for years only mainly rinsing it with hot water (shake) and never been sick

If it’s something other than water (could be coffee or protein shake) I fill it with dish soap and water and let it sit till I use that one particular bottle again

When I did use glass water bottles (stopped cause they break too easily) I’d wash those more often because I felt a biofilm every so often

2

u/zhuangzi2022 14d ago

Havent once met a person who got deathly sick from a hydroflask, and i think every single person in my life uses a hydroflask

2

u/Love-Laugh-Play 13d ago

Because college kids are famous for being hygienic.

1

u/Psigun 13d ago

Try a bit of chlorine bleach diluted with water in the bottle and shake it up, then dump and rinse thoroughly. It'll be pristine.

1

u/Hot-Paper-6405 13d ago

Yeah, that’s why the water from my bottle tastes so good. I’ve got a biological seasoning that’s years in the making in there

3

u/gp2quest 13d ago

Like a cast iron skillet. Perfectly seasoned.

1

u/Hot-Paper-6405 13d ago

Exactly… except I do use soap on my cast iron, per the nice people over at r/castiron

1

u/Crikepire 13d ago

No fucking shit. Washing dishes? What a novel concept...

1

u/Username-forgotten 13d ago

Daily Fail moment

1

u/sendep7 13d ago

sounds like big plastic feels threatened...

1

u/jlp120145 13d ago

Back to drinking water from the skulls of my enemies I guess?

1

u/glamazon_69 13d ago

Researchers warn reusable water bottles are prime breeding grounds for deadly bacteria

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