I have a thing about cleaning drinks bottles and bladders. Seeing black stuff accumulate in my hydration systems is especially concerning. So, every so often I’ll have a frenzy of extremely hot water and Milton filling every drinks bottle I posess. But something has been bothering me. My Camelbak Podium bottle, or more precisely, the jet valve in the cap.

This is a fabulous design that is very effective at keeping the fluid in the bottle even if the valve is open. However, after time it has started to turn a rather unpleasantly black colour. This is especially where drink has seeped between the parts which are naturally quite close fitting. Frustratingly, it is not obvious how to access these parts and so I have been reluctant to use said bottle.

That was before turning to t’internet. Now I know that we are apparantly using the internet for up to a day a week and not always on productive matters, but this morning’s trawl turned up the answer to my dilema. It’s all contained in this video (links out to Camelbak) and is as easy at it seems. My jet valve is pristine, all is back together and functional; happiness all round.

Clean as a whistle, at last.

Cleanliness is close to godliness, as the saying goes. At least it keeps you away from gastro issues and that has to be a good thing.