Woman shared her story on TikTok
While reusable water bottles contribute to environmental well-being, their impact on health may be compromised without regular cleaning. Kae, a woman who shared her experience on TikTok, revealed that recurrent illnesses over the past few months were linked to the inadequate cleanliness of her water bottle, the New York Post reported.
In the now-viral video, the woman said, "This is a PSA to anyone who owns an Owala."
The caption of her video read, "PSA to fellow Owala girlies to take out the silicone piece."
In the video, she narrated how she got sick multiple times over the past few months. She revealed that she first got sick in August, "I had a cold that [was] minor, you know? Lasted a week and then didn't go away. Went to urgent care: bronchitis," she said.
She shared that she felt better after three weeks.
However, the woman got sick for a second time with a sinus infection. She was prescribed antibiotics. "I had maybe a week and a half where I was, like, healthy, and felt great, and didn't have any illness. And then I get sick again."
The third time she developed a cold and the most painful sore throat. After taking the medications again, she randomly decided to clean her water bottle. "This is where it goes downhill. I'm cleaning it, doing all the normal things," Kae said.
She acknowledged being aware of the presence of bacteria in her reusable water bottle and confessed to not cleaning it as frequently as she should. Uncertain about the correct cleaning method, she turned to Google, which eventually directed her to Reddit. There, online users advised her to specifically detach a silicone piece from the lid for thorough cleaning.
Everyone's like: 'Remove it,'" Kae said, revealing that the silicone piece from her Owala water bottle was "covered in mould".
"It even embedded itself into the silicone. Of course, I immediately order replacements on Amazon. So, I didn't know it came out, so I'm horrified, of course. Once I cleaned it, got better. Haven't been sick since," she said.
"I had mould poisoning from my water bottle. So this is a PSA to anyone who owns one of these things."
Since being posted, the video has gathered more than three million views on TikTok. Commenting on the video, a user wrote, "Finding mould on something is so traumatising."
"We have to normalise cleaning our water bottles, please... I'm begging," another user wrote.
"This is insane to me because I freak out at the thought of mildew or mould in my bottles... so it gets cleaned or AT LEAST rinsed with hot water and soap," the third user commented.