How to Clean and Sanitize Your Bottled Water Cooler

Here are some easy steps to follow to make sure your bottled water cooler is clean and ready for your great tasting DrinkMore Bottled Water. Make sure you follow the necessary precautions for a Hot & Cold Cooler. Before you start, you’ll need the following:
Thirty minutes of time!
Clean rubber gloves
Lint-free towel or lint-free paper towels
Clean container that can hold a gallon or two
Unscented household bleach (just a tiny bit!)
A small cork or plug if you have a hot & cold cooler
Click below to register

For all Coolers:

  1. Disconnect cooler power cord from outlet.
  2. Clean/Wash cooler exterior & faucets with hot water and mild soap. Dry with paper towels.
  3. Remove the bottle from your cooler (it’s best to do this when the bottle is empty) and drain reservoir thru the cold water (blue) faucet into a bucket and throw that away or give it to your dog. (If there is ice in the reservoir, allow to melt and then drain. Add hot water to speed up this process.)
  4. Remove the water guard or spill-free top from your cooler. Remove the baffle inside the reservoir as well. Both should just pull right out, depending upon the model cooler you have. (If there is ice in the reservoir, allow to melt and then drain. Add hot water to speed up this process.)
  5. Wash these with mild dish soap and water. (In a sink works great!) Rinse with clean water and set aside.

IF YOU HAVE A HOT & COLD COOLER, YOU MUST DO THIS NEXT!!!
If yours is a hot & cold cooler, then you must plug the hot tank off. You can do this with a small cork (we have them available) or plug. It has to be snug and it fits right in the center hole in the bottom of the cooler’s reservoir. The reason you have to do this is to prevent sanitizer from getting into your hot tank. The hot tank sanitizes itself since it’s very hot!! If bleach gets into the hot tank, your hot water will taste like chlorine for many days to follow.

  1. Prepare a sanitizing solution consisting of one gallon of clean water and one teaspoon of unscented bleach. Do not use any more than that! Put on your clean rubber gloves and dip a clean, lint-free towel into the solution and wring out the excess liquid. Now, take that towel and thoroughly clean all of interior surfaces of the reservoir. Make sure that hot tank is plugged off! Let that sanitizing solution stay in the cooler for about 5 minutes.
  2. Sanitize spill-free top and baffle by wiping them down with the towel saturated with the sanitizing solution. You don’t need to soak them, just wipe them. Don’t get the little air filter wet!! Allow to sit for at least 3 minutes and then rinse profusely with clean bottled water – like about a gallon and set aside.
  3. Fill reservoir full of fresh bottled water and completely drain that water thru the cold faucet. Now, do it again – fill the reservoir with bottled water and drain through the cold faucet. We recommend doing the same thing for a third time, just to make sure all of the chlorine bleach is gone! That’s about three gallons of bottled water through the cold faucet.
  4. Put on a clean pair of rubber gloves and take out the hot tank cork (if you put one in), replace the baffle and spill-free top assembly by pressing firmly into place. Place a bottle on the cooler and drain two cups of water from each faucet (hot, room temp, and cold). You shouldn’t have any chlorine taste. If you do, keep draining more water until the taste disappears.
  5. Plug the cooler back in – it’ll take thirty minutes or so before the water is hot and/or cold!

If you have any questions about any of the above, all you have to do is contact us.