How to Clean Your
Water Cooler
If you’ve installed a water cooler in your office or home,
or are thinking about it, then the question of cleaning and maintenance is
something you’ll need to consider. If you want pure, clean water, you have to
make sure that its coming from a clean machine. Fortunately, cleaning and
maintenance of water coolers isn’t complicated. Water cooler
servicing kits are readily available.
When you acquire your water cooler you will have two options. If you’ve rented a water cooler then it will typically include some kind of maintenance and service contract. That lets you off the hook when it comes to keeping your cooler in tip-top running order. Your contractor will deal with the cleaning for you, on a regular basis.
Your other option is to undertaking the cleaning of your
water cooler yourself. It’s a straightforward process that requires little
technical know-how – just some common sense. Your water cooler will come with a
manual and instructions on any specific features peculiar to your model of
machine.
There are some differences between cleaning bottle-fed and
plumbed in water coolers, and those that both heat and chill water, but the
basic process is the same. In either kind of water cooler, you will need to
clean or occasionally replace the filter, no matter what type of filter it is
fitted with. If your cooler has a filtration system that uses several filters
(some have two or three), then you will need to attend to all of them at
regular intervals – twice a year is about standard for filter replacement.
Sanitising to remove any bacterial presence is best down about three times a
year.
Luckily it’s no sweat! They are designed for easy servicing
and cleaning and service packs will contain all the kit you need. Apart from
replacing the filters the other key tasks are flushing the system out with
sanitising fluid, and giving it a bit of a brush where any debris has
accumulated. If there is a drip tray you will need to give that a regular wipe,
along with running a wet cloth over the outside. You may need to use lime de-scaler
if you have a lime scale problem with the water in your area.
Before you start, there are some basic but important things
to remember! First of all, wash your hands
with anti-bacterial soap, or use a clean pair of latex gloves. Obviously you
don’t want to introduce any extras into your water.
Second, make sure you’ve unplugged and switched the water
off, if you have a mains-fed (plumbed in) water cooler. It sounds obvious, but
it’s worth making a note of this vital step in the proceedings! Then make sure
that you’ve emptied out any water remaining in the cooler tank.
Then, give the tank and baffle plate a good but
gentle scrub with a nylon brush. Then add sanitising fluid. The amount you need
to use will vary depending on the tank size and the make and model of your
cooler. Check the manufacturer’s instructions. Switch the water back on to
ensure that the sanitising fluid penetrates throughout the system. After about
five minutes (for typical brands of sanitising liquid) you can flush the system
through with clean water. You’ll need to do this about three times.
You’re then ready to reassemble your cooler, fill the tank from
the mains or replace the water bottle, as applicable. The whole process
shouldn’t take you too long, and very soon you’ll be up and running, enjoying your
refreshing, clean, filtered water once again.
If you are unsure then get a professional to do it for you, since they do it daily its probably a better use of your time and money!
