Water tank: a breeding ground for bacteria?

[Jeff M]

Two week CPAP user here, still doing the learning curve thing. Interestingly, both my wife and I were diagnosed with sleep apnea and received our machines within two days of each other. She has the Respironics, I have the AirSense. As a retired nurse, she is of course more germ-aware than me, and thinks the humidifier tank should be emptied every day and then filled at night to prevent bacteria from growing. I am resisting throwing out perfectly good distilled water every day (although at 88cents a gallon at Walmart it ain't breaking the bank)

What say you?

[HoseCrusher]

How is your immune system functioning?

If it is compromised, or if you have grandchildren that like to pee in your humidifier tank, empty it daily...

[Sir NoddinOff]

As a retired nurse, she is of course more germ-aware than me, and thinks the humidifier tank should be emptied every day and then filled at night to prevent bacteria from growing. I am resisting throwing out perfectly good distilled water every day (although at 88cents a gallon at Walmart it ain't breaking the bank) What say you?

I don't think your wife is being unreasonable but changing the water every three days or so would be where I'd start. Hosechusher's reference above is to a recent post where somebody said their angry grandchild pee'd in their humidifier tank (could've been a prank post).

[Bill44133]

This is one of my favorite subjects on this board, and this is one of my favorite threads:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=94916&st=0&sk=t&sd=a#p878155


My tank is mostly empty every day any way.. I give the tank a good cleaning weekly.



I wish you well..

[chunkyfrog]

Many of us are comfortable with less aggressive cleaning rituals;
but your wife is a NURSE! In the interests of marital accord, you might choose to compromise a bit.
Not that you really need to; but if Mama ain't happy . . .

[DWaldman]

Peace in the family is worth more than a little water. Change it every day like she does, it will make her feel like you respect her opinions.

[Pugsy]

Well.....
in the interest of keeping Mama happy...you know that old saying "happy wife...happy life"
here's an idea
Unless you are using a lot of water each night you don't necessarily have to fill it to the full line every night.
You could use less so that all you have to do is pour out a tiny bit in the AM but just be careful to always have enough water available in the chamber (don't keep too stingy with filling it) because when it runs dry in the middle of the night it stinks to high heaven and your nose might not like not only the smell but getting dried out and you might not like what happens when they get dried out.

That said...I don't empty mine daily because I don't see the need but then my husband doesn't have a clue about this equipment or any preconceived notions as to what a person should or should not do.
Knowing women and knowing nurses who worry about germs...it's probably best just to go with the flow and keep her happy. I have my doubts as to whether you could swing her over to our side and it's not worth fighting over. I probably dump mine once a month and give it a good washing at that time. The rest of the time I just top it off.

As far as anticipating water consumption...something you will just have to watch and learn and will also depend on your own humidity preferences. I like LOTS of humidity so I will always top off my chamber because I don't want to risk running out (been there and done that and my nose was real mad at be for it and took about 3 days to forgive me). In the winter when the air is drier I will probably use up almost all the water nightly.
In the spring and summer not as much water usage and if it is raining outside and the windows are open I won't hardly use any water.

[What say you?]

quote = What say you?

my feeling is that opening the humidifier and or leaving it open to air dry only expose it to more dust and germs than anything else you will do but soon you will be able to pour just enought for 1 nite btw I never use a funnel as that only transfers dust, bacteria and germs into the chamber. ask wife about transfer contam. pour directly from the bottle and keep the bottle closed. oh and dont use tap water as that does still contain bacteria even tho it is drinkable. that alone can cause problems

but more importantly I would make sure before its too late that you both have the same model cpap. this will save you sooo much in the long run in supplies and sanity not to mention being able to swap parts when troubleshooting problems etc.
I would prefer the respironics for the 12v power and the cost of the 12v aparatus. and believe me soon you will be worried about what to do when the power goes out

hopefully you both are using the same dme and that alone should give you some leverage to switch cpaps but if that doesnt then have the doc specify the exact make and model on the order to the dme or find another dme who is willing to help

[svo]

.. I am on cpap machine since March, at the begining I had heavy (really heavy) nose bleeds everyday to the point that I was about to go to the ear/nose specialist...but then one day I decided to use the humidifier and the next day...no change nose bleeding again (the nostrils bled in alternate ways)..then I found the heated tube and I tried it...put the settings in auto for the heated tubing as well as for the humidifier and the next morning it was a miracle..nose bleeds stopped suddenly this happened 2 months ago....yes I am also cheap and it bothers me to throw destilled water away no matter how little but now I have control ..on weekends I fill the tank to the limit since I do sleep late...during the weekday I do fill below the mark and when i get up it is just a tiny bit covering the bottom...good luck

[Sir NoddinOff]

This is one of my favorite subjects on this board, and this is one of my favorite threads:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=94916&st=0&sk=t&sd=a#p878155
My tank is mostly empty every day any way.. I give the tank a good cleaning weekly. I wish you well..

I agree... the 'salt trick' is a great method and I've been using it for years. I do it about once every 6 months.
Follow the directs exactly. Mostly after months and months, I have scaly white corners with my PR tanks (way too many baffles and niches, unlike ResMed tanks)... the salt trick makes them sparkle like new with no scratches to the plastic surfaces. The salt breaks the covalent bonds that hold the growths together and then the grit of the salt scrubs them out soooo easily. Brilliant.

[SewTired]

I agree with the others. Just let it be emptied and refilled. Estimate how much you use at night and only fill it that far. That's what I do. Right now, it would take me 5 nights to use up the water in the tank starting at FULL. So, I put a lot less in now.

[Wulfman...]

Two week CPAP user here, still doing the learning curve thing. Interestingly, both my wife and I were diagnosed with sleep apnea and received our machines within two days of each other. She has the Respironics, I have the AirSense. As a retired nurse, she is of course more germ-aware than me, and thinks the humidifier tank should be emptied every day and then filled at night to prevent bacteria from growing. I am resisting throwing out perfectly good distilled water every day (although at 88cents a gallon at Walmart it ain't breaking the bank)

What say you?

I say the same thing. The first morning after my first night, I dumped my tank........and wondered "WHY did I do THAT?
That was the last time I "wasted" any distilled. Since I don't use heated humidification, the water lasts much longer......about two and a half months for a gallon. So, when I open a new gallon of distilled, I dump out what's left in my water tank, rinse it out with hot tap water and put it back on the machine and refill with distilled. In over 11 years, I've only actually "cleaned" my HH tank a few times......and then it probably wasn't necessary, but I did it out of curiosity.
Otherwise, the tank stays very clean.
It's my foam/reusable/cleanable air intake filter that I make sure to rinse out twice a month.


Den

.

[jim22]

Each morning, I pour any left over distilled water from the humidifier tank into a glass jar with a sealed lid and allow the humidifier tank to air dry during the day. At night, I pour the water from the glass jar back into the tank, top up with fresh distilled water, and leave the glass jar open upside down to air dry over night. At the end of each gallon of water, I spritz out the tank and jar with a 50/50 mixture of distilled water and white vinegar and let them both air dry. This wastes almost no water and everything seems to star pretty clean. I wash the air filter on the same schedule. Nose pillows I wash in soap and water every day.
Jim

[Jeff M]

quote = What say you?

my feeling is that opening the humidifier and or leaving it open to air dry only expose it to more dust and germs than anything else you will do but soon you will be able to pour just enought for 1 nite btw I never use a funnel as that only transfers dust, bacteria and germs into the chamber. ask wife about transfer contam. pour directly from the bottle and keep the bottle closed. oh and dont use tap water as that does still contain bacteria even tho it is drinkable. that alone can cause problems

but more importantly I would make sure before its too late that you both have the same model cpap. this will save you sooo much in the long run in supplies and sanity not to mention being able to swap parts when troubleshooting problems etc.
I would prefer the respironics for the 12v power and the cost of the 12v aparatus. and believe me soon you will be worried about what to do when the power goes out

hopefully you both are using the same dme and that alone should give you some leverage to switch cpaps but if that doesnt then have the doc specify the exact make and model on the order to the dme or find another dme who is willing to help

We have different machines because mine is supplied directly by my employer, which meant I received mine an hour after the diagnosis, she waited six months (she's retired). It is interesting comparing the two machines, which I've learned are both high rated units.

Thanks to everyone for your responses. This looks to be an excellent forum.

[What say you?]

doesnt matter the reason they are different only that it is an inconvenience for the users
so now that you can compare the 2 pick 1 and have the doc or dme fix it
see what I did was to insist that she got the same one I had and flat out refused anything else