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Reusable water bottles may be good for the environment, but they might not be good for your health unless you clean them regularly.

A woman named Kae recently took to TikTok to share that she had been sick multiple times over the past few months and the cause behind it. “This is a PSA to anyone who owns an Owala,” she began her video, which was captioned: “PSA to fellow Owala girlies to take out the silicone piece.”

In the clip, which was posted 13 December, Kae explained that she first got sick in August. “I had a cold that [was] minor, you know? Lasted a week and then didn’t go away. Went to urgent care: bronchitis,” she said. After being given an inhaler and antibiotics, she explained that she felt better after three weeks.

However, a couple of weeks later she was sick for a second time with a sinus infection. She went to her local urgent care again and was prescribed antibiotics. “I had maybe a week and a half where I was, like, healthy, and felt great, and didn’t have any illness. And then I get sick again,” Kae continued in her TikTok.

This time, she had contracted a cold and “the most painful sore throat”. After being placed on antibiotics again, she randomly decided to clean her water bottle. “This is where it goes downhill. I’m cleaning it, doing all the normal things,” Kae said.

She admitted that she knows there’s bacteria in her reusable water bottle and that she doesn’t clean it as often as she should. Because she wasn’t sure how to properly clean the water bottle, she took to Google which led her to Reddit - where internet users told her to specifically remove a silicone piece that detaches from the lid.

“Everyone’s like: ‘Remove it,’” Kae said, revealing that the silicone piece from her Owala water bottle was “covered in mould”.

“It even embedded itself into the silicone. Of course, I immediately order replacements on Amazon. So, I didn’t know it came out, so I’m horrified, of course. Once I cleaned it, got better. Haven’t been sick since,” she said.

“I had mould poisoning from my water bottle. So this is a PSA to anyone who owns one of these things.”

Since she first posted the video, it has received more than three million views on TikTok. Many people took to the comments section to share their own experiences finding mould in their water bottles and express their shock that a water bottle could be making them sick.

One person said: “Finding mould on something is so traumatising.”

Another user agreed, writing: “We have to normalise cleaning our water bottles please… I’m begging.”

Someone else wrote: “This is insane to me because I freak out at the thought of mildew or mould in my bottles… so it gets cleaned or AT LEAST rinsed with hot water and soap.”

“My daughter has several. I’ll be cleaning tonight. Thanks bestie,” a fourth user added.

Previously, one woman had sparked online backlash after admitting that she rarely cleans her reusable water bottle.

In a viral TikTok video posted on 9 October, TikTok user Jacey (@jaceylmfao) shared with viewers that she washes her bottle “only once in a blue moon”. Alongside the clip, she wrote over the video: “Girl math is never washing your water bottle because if I only put water in it how is it dirty?”

The video - which has since received more than 2.7 million views - ended up sparking a heated hygiene debate amongst viewers, with many expressing disgust and pointing out that an unwashed bottle could accumulate “bacterial buildup”.

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