Clean your water cooler!

If you have a water cooler, it is important to clean it regularly. How often it should be done varies with recommendations from yearly, to every 6 months to Health Canada' recommendation of every time you change the bottle. Health Canada Bottled Water Page. 

How do you clean your cooler? These are the steps that we use:

1)     Unplug cord and allow the unit to come to room temperature. For Hot and Cold coolers, run some water out of the hot tap after unplugging to cool the water.

2)   Remove the bottle.  Empty the reservoir through the faucets. For Hot and Cold coolers, also remove the drain plug at the back of the cooler.  Replace after the hot tank is empty.

3)      Remove the lid of your dispenser.  No-Spill tops require a little extra effort to pull off and push on. Some have a locking pin. Some require a partial counter-clockwise turn before removing.

4)      Mix a cleaning solution by adding 1 tablespoon of household bleach to 1 gallon of fresh water. Thoroughly wipe inside of reservoir with cleaning solution and a clean cloth or paper towel.

5)      Fill reservoir with cleaning solution. For Hot and Cold coolers, open the hot faucet until water comes out and top up the reservoir with solution.

6)      Spray a diluted solution of bleach and water inside the faucet spouts.  Let stand for 5 minutes, and then drain through the faucets. For Hot and Cold coolers, also remove the drain plug at the back of the cooler.  Replace after the hot tank is empty.

7)      Fill the reservoir with fresh water. For Hot and Cold coolers, open the hot faucet until water comes out and top up the reservoir with fresh water.

8)      Drain through the faucets. For Hot and Cold coolers, also remove the drain plug at the back of the cooler.  Replace after the hot tank is empty.

9)      Repeat steps 7 & 8 once more.

10)  Remove the air filter from the top.

11)  Clean the top in a clean sink filled with fresh water and a mild bleach solution.

12)  Rinse the top with fresh water, and dry with clean paper towel.

13)  Replace air filter

14)  Replace cooler top.

15)  Replace bottle.

16)  Open faucets one at a time until water runs from each.

17)  Plug unit back in.

18) Water should be chilled and hot, if so equipped in about 1/2 hour.