Expert Advice > Hydration Reservoir Cleaning and Storage

Hydration Reservoir Cleaning and Storage

cycling hydration reservoir

A hydration-equipped backpack or daypack offers a convenient way to stay hydrated during your outdoor activities. To ensure your reservoir, sip tube and valve stay gunk-free between adventures, follow the simple maintenance tasks outlined here.

Reservoir Cleaning Tips

When a trip is complete, a hydration reservoir and sip tube should be emptied as soon as possible and allowed to air out and dry. As with a tent, ensuring that a hydration reservoir dries completely is critical for avoiding mildew growth.

Cleaning kits, tabs and dryers offered by CamelBak and other hydration reservoir makers provide handy ways to maintain a reservoir and sustain its life.

Shop REI's selection of hydration reservoir cleaners.

The crew at Cascade Designs (maker of Platypus and MSR Dromedary, Hydromedary and Cloudliner reservoirs) also offers the following recipe for keeping reservoirs and tubing fresh and taste-free:

Mix 1 or 2 cups of baking soda with 2 or 3 quarts of water.
Squeeze half a lemon into that mixture, pour it into a reservoir and let it sit for 1 or 2 days.
Empty the reservoir, rinse it very thoroughly and prop it open it so it can dry fully. (Commercial drying kits are particularly handy for this.)
Some of that mixture can also be used to soak a sip tube to restore its freshness. Another option: Soak the tube in a mild bleach solution.
Always rinse and dry the tube thoroughly.

If you use flavored drinks or sports drinks in a hydration reservoir, it can be close to impossible to totally remove every hint of an introduced flavor from the plastic. The baking soda/lemon treatment described above gives you an above-average chance to succeed.

Avoid using iodine to treat water in a hydration reservoir. Typically, the taste of iodine will linger in the plastic forever. Chlorine dioxide tablets will likely also leave a trace of taste, just one not as blatantly noticeable (and distasteful) as iodine.

Reservoir Storage

When storing a completely dry reservoir, do not fold it. Allow it to lie flat or, if possible, keep it propped open. Creasing the material may spawn cracks in the future as the material ages.

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