Doctors have warned people with refillable water bottles to clean them regularly or risk growing more bacteria than found on a toilet seat. Reusing and cutting down plastic consumption is good for the environment, but it can come with some health risks.
Whether its fashionable stainless steal flasks, glass containers or trendy beakers - refillable bottles are now an ever-present to help people consume more water and save money on buying the bottles found on supermarket shelves. However, according to a study from waterfilterguru.com, reusable water bottles contain an average of 20.8m colony-forming units (CFUs) of bacteria, which equates to 40,000 times more than the microbes on a toilet seat.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Dr Donald Grant, senior clinician at The Independent Pharmacy, said: "A common misconception when it comes to reusable water bottle hygiene is that as you're typically filling it with pure water and it's only coming into contact with your own mouth, there's little need to clean it often.
