Good health is inseparable from safe drinking water.
Because of its convenience and speed, water dispensers have gradually become standard in homes, offices and many public places.
However, many people are not particularly concerned about the cleaning of the water dispenser.
Here to ask everyone: how long has your water dispenser not been cleaned?
Half? A year? Or has it never been cleaned up? Do you know how dirty the water in the water dispenser is?
Today, we will take the traditional bottled water overhead water dispenser as an example to see how dirty the water in the water dispenser is.
How dirty is the water in the water dispenser?
First, we need to understand two issues first.
The first is the structure of the water dispenser. After we open the bottle of water and put it in the water dispenser, the water first passes through the smart seat, and then part of it flows directly through the cold water pipe to the cold water interface, and the other part flows into the storage tank through the hot water pipe, and then heats it in the inner tank, and finally flows out through the hot water interface.
The second is the microbial content requirements of qualified drinking water. The national "Sanitary Standard for Drinking Water" (GB5749-2006) requires that the microbial content is that the total number of colonies is less than 100 CFU/mL, and the coliform flora is not detectable in every 100 mL of water sample.
A summary of recent relevant studies yields the following conclusions:
1, once the bottled water is opened and put into the water dispenser, the longer the time, the bacterial content in the bucket water gradually increases, about 7-10 days close to the "Drinking Water Sanitation Standard" GB5749-2006 in the total number of colonies limit of 100 CFU / mL, so it is recommended that the bottled water is best drunk within 7 days after opening.
2. The bacterial content of the hot water outlet is basically qualified, but the bacterial content of the cold water outlet is obviously exceeded. In the case of comprehensive disinfection of the water dispenser before the experiment, the bacterial content in the water taken out of the cold water outlet of the water dispenser has exceeded the standard in 3-7 days, and considering the undilided water dispenser in our daily life, the bacterial content in the cold water outlet may exceed the standard after 24 hours.
3. The pollution of the inner wall of the inner tank and the cold water valve of the water dispenser is the main reason for the excessive microbial content of the outlet. And after using a water dispenser for a period of time, the smart seat has become dirty visible to the naked eye, or when the inner wall is slippery to the touch, it means that it has been contaminated with bacteria. If the water in the bucket flows through such a smart seat, and then passes through the inlet pipe and the inner tank, the bacteria accumulate and grow and multiply, and you can imagine how dirty the water is...
The water dispenser cleaning is not in place, what will happen to the water in it for a long time?
If the cleaning is not in place, the growth and reproduction of bacteria will appear "secondary pollution". Drinking such water for a long time may cause gastrointestinal discomfort, even abdominal pain, diarrhea, and serious urinary tract infections. Therefore, it is crucial to clean and disinfect the water dispenser regularly.
Is the water from the water dispenser boiling? Is it unhealthy to drink water that is repeatedly heated?
Most water dispensers do not boil water. The hot water and thermal insulation function of the water dispenser mainly rely on the temperature control sensing device, the water in the bucket flows into the heating inner tank for heating, generally speaking, the temperature control sensor feels that the water temperature rises to about 90 ° C, the heating power supply will be automatically cut off, when the water temperature drops to 80 ° C, the temperature sensor will reheat the water, so the cycle. Therefore, many people think that the hot water of the water dispenser is "thousand boiling water" and generate fear.
People's concern about "thousand boiling water" is mainly that when the water is repeatedly heated, the content of heavy metals, arsenides, nitrites and other contents is "concentrated" as the water evaporates. But it is not right to talk about toxicity aside the dose, take nitrite, the "Technical Plan for The Health Emergency Disposal of Acute Nitrite Poisoning Incidents" states that the minimum dose of oral poisoning for adults is about 0.1g, so how much is the nitrite content in the water dispenser?
There are experimental measurements that the nitrite content in tap water is 0.007 mg/l, the value is 0.021 mg/l after boiling once, and the content after 20 consecutive boils is 0.038 mg/l.
The National Standard for Food Safety (GB 2762-2017) stipulates that the maximum limit value of nitrite (in terms of NO₂⁻) in packaged drinking water (except mineral water) is 0.005 mg/l, so the nitrite content in bottled water is lower than that of tap water. Therefore, tons of water need to be drunk to reach the toxic dose of nitrite.
In short, when the water dispenser is in use, bacteria, viruses, dust, mold, etc. enter the barreled water with the air, plus there is a dead angle inside the water dispenser, and it is easy to become a hotbed of bacteria if you do not clean for a long time.
How to clean the water dispenser correctly?
For the cleaning and disinfection frequency of the water dispenser, some studies believe that the cold water/ room temperature outlet water of the ordinary water dispenser is not more than 4 days of sanitary and safe drinking time, and some researchers recommend that the disinfection cycle is half a month to one month. Usually, we can clean the parts of the smart seat that are easy to clean, and then regularly disinfect the water dispenser, including the liner, thoroughly disinfect. The method of cleaning and disinfection can be referred to as follows:
1. Cut off the power supply of the water dispenser.
2. Drain the water in the water dispenser from the outlet, and then open the back sewage outlet to empty the remaining water.
3. Clean the exterior and smart seat, disinfect the outside of the water dispenser with 75% alcohol, and wipe the outlet, the inside and outside of the smart seat and the inner tank.
4, if you need to carry out thorough disinfection, you can choose a disinfectant that is harmless to the human body and does not affect the water quality, pour into the inner tank, after 10-20 minutes, open all the outlets including the sewage pipe, thoroughly drain the disinfectant, rinse the entire cavity with water until the residual disinfectant is discharged.