Why Does My Water Bottle Smell?

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Written By Mary Samantha Katherine

Wait what? Did you thoroughly clean your water bottle, and is it still smelly? Or has it been a while since you can see your water bottle crystal clear from the outside but smelly from the inside? You might be for answers about why does my water bottle smell so harsh that you ain’t got the feelings to fill it with water anymore. I know that frustration or sense of feeling catches you when you find your water bottle smelly.

Please find yourself most welcome to this article because, in this one, I am going to share all the causes that make your water bottle smelly. Plus relative solutions for all of them. So, keep reading till the end, and let’s get started!

So, Why Does My Water Bottle Smelly Actually?

To solve a problem, you must know the possible causes of that problem. In this case, your water bottle may smell for plenty of reasons you might not even know before.

I have made a list of certain factors that convert your finest water bottle into a smelly one. Please take a look, and you will understand more clearly!

Bacterial Growth:

Whenever you take a sip or drink water from your water bottle, a small number of bacteria from your mouth enter the water bottle.

Such bacteria grows around the opening or inside the water bottle, contaminating the water you already have.

You cannot control it, and when this continues, it makes your bottle smelly.

So, frequently, when you drink water again after a couple of weeks, it will be stinky and you may not even like that water.

When Not Kept Properly Cleaned:

Mostly water bottles start stinking when you don’t pay attention to their cleaning. Such causes rapid growth of bacteria and trapping multiple odors.

There could be mold or mildew if that water bottle is not cleaned properly. Ultimately, the water bottle will start sinking, and you can feel it smelly around the clock.

Solution:

To eliminate this smell problem with your water bottle, you must keep it cleaned. Proper cleaning is necessary so that it shouldn’t smell like a wet dog, a fish, mushy or more.

Moreover, once cleaned, you should leave your water bottle open for drying before you fill it with water for the next time.

Effect Of Temperature On Water Bottles:

Water bottles made from plastic and metal are usually more affected by hot temperatures than others.

Such temperature effect results in dissolving the gases present in these bottles. Which ultimately leads these water bottles to smell bad.

Solution:

However, if your water bottle is made of stainless steel, it will not be affected by the external temperature.

Whenever such Hydro Cell Water Bottles are manufactured, you get excellent insulation provided through ThermoCell technology.

Therefore, there will be zero effect of temperatures on these water bottles, which will ensure that no bad smell should face your nose tissues.

Water Bottles Start Stinking Bad Due To Their Material Quality:

Most of the time, the smell problem with water bottles occur due to the material quality they are made of.

Usually, water bottles made from low-quality plastic give a greater chance for the bacteria to grow. Such building up of bacteria starts contaminating your water quality.

Solution:

For that solution, one should always invest in stainless steel bottles like those Hydro Cell Bottles available out there.

Depending On The Time Limit To Store Water In A Bottle:

Mostly if you get water bottles to store for an extended period, you will have them smell bad.

That’s because when such a thing happens, there are harmful chemicals that leach into the water contaminating its quality.

For this, read guide one on how long should you keep a water bottle as it will help you understand more about this problem.

Solution:

This will never happen with your water bottle if you focus on the labels on the water bottle telling for how long you can store water in a particular water bottle.

Keep your water stored until that period and once that is finished, remove it and fill the bottle with new water after cleaning it.

How To Remove Smell From Water Bottle?

It’s human nature as it always accepts things with good hygiene. Well, if that water bottle is not leaving its smell anymore, you can apply the following methods to get rid of that smell.

Please take at some most common approaches to tackle your water bottle smelly problems.

Clean Water Bottle With Mild Bleach Plus Water:

The first thing you can try to remove all the stinking odors from your water bottle is the usage of mild bleach with water.

You may have an idea, but bleach has proven itself a great fighter against removing all odors, stains, and dirtiness from clothes as well as other surfaces. Fortunately, it will go just great with your water bottle.

For this, follow the cleaning process described below.

  • Take a teaspoon of bleach and mix it directly into a gallon or almost 16 cups of water.
  • Fill that water bottle with this solution and keep the solution inside the water bottle for almost 5 to 20 minutes.
  • Keep rinsing the water bottle until you find no smell inside it.
  • Moreover, using a bottle brush would be preferable for proper cleaning if the water bottle has a narrow mouth. On the other hand, using a sponge with your hand would be better if that mouth is a little wide.
  • Now, after that time, remove the water and clean it again properly. Don’t forget to clean the lid also. Once the cleaning is done, leave the water bottle to get dry.

Use Boiling Water To Remove Smell From Water Bottle:

If bleach doesn’t help in removing those unwanted odors from your water bottle, try boiled water, as it will be effective.

It can do the required sanitizing in your water bottle and helps remove the smell.

Take a full overnight and soak that water bottle with boiled water. Such water will work well in removing all the bacteria and odors from the water.

When you see the dawn, you can use soap to clean that water bottle and check if this has removed the odors or not.

In case it doesn’t remove the smell, you can repeat this process once more.

Clean Water Bottle Using White Vinegar And Clean Water:

You may find vinegar smelling awful by itself. But fortunately, you can use this masterpiece as your cleaning solution to remove odors from water bottles. To do that, follow the process below.

Please Note: White Vinegar has some excellent astringent properties; it works just great in neutralizing the smell of your bottled water.

  • For this, fill your water bottle with vinegar.
  • Allow the water bottle to keep vinegar inside for a period of 10 minutes.
  • After that time interval, you can use soap and water to rinse that water bottle completely.
  • Once cleaned in this way, let the bottle dry.
  • However, one may also opt to use warm water as it is a more appropriate way of cleaning.
  • But sometimes, you must leave the water bottle filled with white vinegar for a whole night and clean it in the morning. That would work just fine in removing all odors from your water bottle.

Is It Safe To Drink From A Smelly Water Bottle?

Yes, it could be dangerous to drink from a smelly water bottle. Because such water bottles may have harmful bacteria inside them that result in stomach pain, vomiting, and other significant problems.

So, the entire solution is that you should replace that water bottle with a new one if it doesn’t stop smelling bad, even if you have tried a couple of ways to remove that smell.

Though it would cost you hefty money, you will have a finite solution.

Final Thoughts:

Lastly, the solutions I discussed in this guide are good at tackling your problem with why does my water bottle smell. Apply these solutions and let me know if any of these helps remove that odor from your water bottle and make it fresh and clear once again. However, even if it doesn’t, you are most welcome for help or your queries. Just keep a proper cleaning of that water bottle you keep every time you fill it with water. You will never have smell problems from it.

Besides, thanks for reading and exploring our comprehensive guides on water if you found this one interesting. Keep visiting and keep drinking healthy!

References:

https://idp.springer.com/authorize/casa?redirect_uri=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00267-011-9692-6&casa_token=tazF9BKVPCEAAAAA:IHWz7xIWgRhPtDTQp8CTc0yOTJ04RdgTIwl1vFmh8Q-6xxSeFqQrakMPCN7lrhuFbFTVfECkFlrDG5mJaCQ

http://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/nov-dec-17-sun.pdf

https://www.scielo.br/j/ne/a/bGJSD8tNW7ZwwjPbzzGghVh/abstract/?lang=en

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