Reusable water bottles with twistable covers provide the convenience of always having water on the go. Unfortunately, a father from the UK found that these bottles may hoard bacteria and make children sick.
A Father's Concern
Craig Beresford posted on his Facebook page photos of his daughter's Twist 'N' Sip reusable drinks bottle from Sistema.
Beresford wrote that the bottle cap is not user serviceable and has been causing illness to her 7-year-old daughter.
For about four weeks, her daughter has been complaining of an upset stomach every time she goes home from school. He and his wife have been figuring out what was causing their daughter's poor condition.
One time, his friend mentioned something about how a thermos flask with a pop-up lid has been making him sick. That conversation led Craig to investigate on his daughter's Sistema water bottle. After all, he said that it was the only thing that her daughter has been in contact with all the time.
Digging Into The Dirt
Craig then decided to disassemble the bottle parts, specifically the lid. However, the parts were not meant to be taken apart hence, he found it challenging to dismantle. He then used a knife to cut through the lid, hoping to find an answer.
Lo and behold, the internal parts of the lid have been "hoarding bacteria," Craig describes.
They were horrified and saddened with the discovery, knowing that their little girl has been using that bottle.
In his post, Craig also detailed how they clean her daughter's bottle. He said that they clean and rinse the bottle in boiling water and sterilize it every day, even using dispersible sterilizing tablets.
"Anyone that knows me, will be fully aware how OCD I am about keeping things clean," he writes.
Craig then goes to advise people to look at these bottles if they own one. He emphasized that his reminder is not just for Sistema products, but for other brands with twistable and pop-up caps as well.
Sistema Speaks Up
Sistema released a statement, saying that it has been receiving customer feedback about how hard it is to clean the Twist 'n' Sip water bottles.
"We manufacture our tops to meet international child safety standards and it is for this reason they can be difficult to disassemble," the statement reads.
For this, the company has posted videos demonstrating the correct way to dismantle and clean the three types of water bottle products that the company offer.
Finally, the firm says it is now developing new designs to improve the bottle caps in such a way that will meet those criteria.
Response To Media Popularity
Craig's Facebook post has garnered numerous comments and thousands of shares. However, he updated his post, saying that there are people who just comment on media websites without knowing the entire story.
One of the negative comments that Craig came across was how he and his wife lack the skill to clean the bottle correctly. He then said that he has a technical occupation and dissembling a plastic bottle is positively within the range of his skills.
Raising Awareness
Craig says that it was not his intention to boycott Sistema. This is the reason why he never tagged or informed the company. What he intends to achieve in his Facebook post is to raise awareness, especially to people who may have an ongoing problem.
Ultimately, the post is meant to encourage people to inspect their reusable water bottles, and not to immediately throw them away.
