Just when you were feeling on top of your hydration habits, you’ve been hit with the terrifying news that getting your recommended amount of H2O might be super, super unhealthy.
Yep, while most of us are guilty of holding on to a plastic bottle for longer than probably necessary (hey, there’s no shame in wanting people to think you drink Fiji every day), it turns out that the containers you’re refilling contain so many germs you might as well lick your toilet.
Treadmillreviews tested refilled water bottles that had been used by an athlete for a week, and in stats provided to Metro revealed that the highest number of bacteria found on one bottle contained over 900,000 colony forming units per square centimeter on average—in other words, more than your standard toilet seat.
And worse still, researchers found that a whopping 60 percent of the germs found were capable of making you sick—meaning that if you’ve been randomly under the weather lately, you may have just found the culprit.
Before you start panicking, it’s not all bad. One simple way to avoid your body being taken over by a bacteria army is to swap slide-top bottles (which contain over 933,000 germs per square centimeter) for squeeze or screw-top bottle, which come in at a slightly less terrifying 160,000.
Better yet, nab yourself one of those stainless steel bottles that you can chuck in the dishwasher and you’ll be germ-free. Whatever method you choose, the main thing to take away is that washing up your water bottles is very, very important.
