Water is a necessity, no matter who you are or what you’re doing. But many of us don’t clean our containers until they contain a noticeable biohazard. For me, the difference between safe hydration and total intestinal failure is Bottle Bright by Clean Ethics.
Bottle Bright effervescent tablets are biodegradable, non-toxic and bubble away biohazards by breaking them down to inert natural substances. It’s like a 2000 Flushes toilet tablet for your water bottle or hydration pack.
Water bottle cleaning 101
Cleaning water bottles with Bottle Bright tablets is a cinch. I fill my water bottles with warm water, drop in a tablet and let it fizz for the recommended five minutes until it dissolves. Then I give the bottle a good shake and let it stand and soak for at least ten minutes. The pizza resistance is how long you let it soak. Bottle Bright recommends ten minutes, but if your bottle has never been cleaned it needs to stand longer. The CamelBak bottle I keep at work took about ten hours.
If you have a CamelBak water bottle with a bite valve, lid and tube, they need to be cleaned as well. The tube can stay in the bottle, but the lid and bite valve can be cleaned just by submerging them in a bowl of Bottle Bright (after it’s been shaken in the bottle and the fizz action starts). If you have a bowl with matching lid that can accommodate the innards, great.
Bottle Bright tablets are also excellent for cleaning hydration pack bladders. Especially mine. The Propel powder I use leaves behind a residue inside the bladder that is like crack to bacteria and fungal growth.
Hydration pack bladder cleaning 101
Cleaning a hydration pack bladder with its long tube and bite valve is also easy, but one extra step is involved. I leave the tube on and let the cleaning solution drain into the tube before putting the bite valve back on. That way the fizzy action gets deep into the tube.
Warning: Don’t tighten the caps of your bottles or your bladder. Some pressure will build inside so you want to give the bladder a chance to vent to avoid any surprises.
How does Bottle Bright compare to the Camelbak Cleaning Tablets? In my opinion, there isn’t a comparison. The CamelBak Cleaning Tablets, while highly effective in ridding the vessel of fungus and bacteria, leave behind a chlorine taste. It’s not overpowering but the taste is there.
I even use Bottle Bright to clean the water reservoir of my cats' Drinkwell fountain.
Clean Ethics 101
Clean Ethics, the company behind Bottle Bright, deserves some kudos. The developers are mountain bikers who wanted to clean their manky, crusty water bottles in a way that was good for environment and didn’t leave a chlorine taste behind.
But clean drinking vessels aren’t restricted to mountain bikers. People in the developing world need a quick and inexpensive way to clean the water vessels in which they carry water from already-questionable water sources.
The mission of Clean Ethics is to provide a water-container sanitizing solution worldwide. So for every package of Bottle Bright sold, they donate as much product to a developing country with their Clean in Kind initiative. It’s a simple solution that has an enormous impact.
Right now, Bottle Bright tablets can only be purchased online for $11.95 for a ten-pack tube or $25.95 for twenty-pack of singles. But shipping is free in the lower-48!
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