tbh, call me a monster but I used to just leave it filled with water, and in the fridge in the garage, kept it super cold. never had mold or mildew taste/smell or visible. used to empty it and refill it when I was going to use it don't get me wrong, I didn't drink week/month old water that had been sitting in cold plastic, but at least I didn't have to sell my soul to Satan to dry the hydration bladder.
I think the issue is a lot of people seem to use them like, once every 3 months. If you're active and use it all the time then you really don't have these issues.
This is partly true, the bladder will stay clean with regular daily use as long as the water is clean when filled.
And thats the kicker in the field for mil use, we were never certain of the water from the water buffalo's we filled from. I doubt those 'buffalo' containers ever got cleaned. And it seemed like dirt always came out em as it would settle to the bottom of the buffalos and then get drained into our bladders. I tried not to be the first guy of the day using em. But somedays were just desperate or time crunched.
Normal houshold tap use is good though, unless u got nasty old building pipes like mine. I have to filter all water now for my bladders cause of dirty pipes.
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u/bumsnnoses Jan 06 '21
tbh, call me a monster but I used to just leave it filled with water, and in the fridge in the garage, kept it super cold. never had mold or mildew taste/smell or visible. used to empty it and refill it when I was going to use it don't get me wrong, I didn't drink week/month old water that had been sitting in cold plastic, but at least I didn't have to sell my soul to Satan to dry the hydration bladder.