Oasis Water Cooler problems

[retro-man]

I am having a problem with my water cooler. It's one of those where you put the 5 gallon bottle upside down in it. It has a chilled water output and a heated water output. I cannot get through half a bottle of water before it starts tasting musty.
I have cleaned repeatedly the resovoir and the holding tank at the bottom that has a plug on the back to drain. I have used a dilution of bleach and water and cleaned it out completely numerous times. I have tried turning the heating unit for the water on for awhile and off. Doesn't seem to make a difference. I have worked in numerous offices that these were never cleaned and never had this problem. I have turned down the temperature so low that there is a ring of ice in the resevoir. I am stumped at this point at why this is happening. The only possible thing I can think of at this point is that the sun comes in a window for awhile and maybe heats up the water in the bottle. Time to clean it out again tomorrow and this time I am thinking of putting a light colored pillow case over the bottle to prevent the sun from hitting it. Any one else have this problem or any ideas as to how to solve this. Would appreciate comments.
Thanks
Jon

 

[nmassman44]

Ding ding ding..you found your problem Retro...the sun. More than likely you have algae growth in the bottle. I have had the same problem and you can wash out the reservoir with bleach and change out the bottle but half way thru the bottle its got a funky taste/smell. Try to relocate the cooler into an area that doesnt get any sun. Or use a cover like you suggested. It should take care of the problem.

 

[sudsmaster]

A dark colored pillow case would block more light and starve the algae out better.

Remember, this bottled water is not sterile and is not (usually) distilled, so it has plenty of salts and nutrients for algae to grow.

You could had a couple drops of chlorine bleach to each bottle before loading into the cooler, but that would sort of defeat most of the reason to use bottled water in the first place.

 

[westie2]

Covers

Jon

Here is what we used when we had the dispenser like you have.

Got to the link below:

http://www.wecovercoolers.com/Our_Products.html

 

[volvoguy87]

Aluminum foil.

While I was vacationing in Alaska a few summers ago, I noticed that many homes had aluminum foil taped to the inside of the bedroom windows. At first I thought it was odd, but then I realized it was because the sun was up so very late. Aluminum foil was the cheapest and most effective way to block light.

Give some aluminum foil a try. It's certainly cheap enough. If you don't like the aesthetics, you can always make a reusable water-cooler tank cozy.

Effective, but oddball,
Dave

 

[jasonl]

Aloom'num Ferl

When I was working at Dell at night, I put up some foil in the window and it works pretty well.

 

[retro-man]

Well I cleaned it out again yesterday from top to bottow with a bleach and water solution. A full bottle of water and a navy blue pillow case over the bottle. We shall see if this takes care of the problem. If so I will purchase one of the bottle cozies on the link that westie2 provided. Thanks to all for their imput. Will let you know next week how things worked out.
Jon

 

[retro-man]

My water still tastes good !!!

Well it has been almost a week now and the water still is clean and tastes great. I have never been able to go this long. The dark blue pillow case worked and now I am going to order one of the bottle cozies. Can't believe it took 2 years to figure this out. Not on the top of my priority lists i guess. Thanks to all and for the link to the cozies.
Jon