There has been a surge in the adoption of reusable bottles, be it for office, travel, gym or other daily activities as a more environment-friendly alternative to disposable bottles
In this bacteria study by waterfilterguru.com in the US, the company investigated the bacteria buildup inside a reusable water bottle
For this study, different parts of the water bottle including the lid, spout or straw, were swabbed three times each. Researchers discovered the presence of two types of bacteria, gram-negative rods and bacillus
Gram-negative bacteria can cause infections that are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, while certain types of bacillus can lead to gastrointestinal issues
Colony-forming units or CFUs were measured to estimate the number of living microbes in a sample. Reusable water bottles had an average of 20.8 million CFUs of bacteria, with the most CFUs found in spout-top and screw-top bottles, that hosted 30 million CFUs
In a shocking discovery, it was found that a reusable water bottle could hold 40,000 times more bacteria than a toilet seat
Check out how much more bacteria a reusable water bottle harbours when compared to a computer mouse, pet bowl or kitchen sink, as per the Waterfilterguru.com study
More than 60% of respondents said they clean their water bottles once or more per day, but others weren’t so diligent. One-quarter of Americans washed their water bottles a few times per week while over 10% only cleaned them a few times in a month
Experts recommend washing your water bottle once a day and sanitising it at least once a week