We used to have delivery of Arrowhead water. It was convenient and they provided a water dispenser. They also would swap out our current dispenser for a new one when we would request a cleaning. Arrowhead is owned by Primo and they consistently kept just not delivering our water. The final straw was when they flaked on us two times in a row with little to no notice both times. We switched to local company and purchased our own water dispenser. Enter the Avalon bottom loading water dispenser.

After six months I had to face the reality that I myself had to clean the damn thing. So I read the manual and the instructions are simple enough but the process itself is a right pain in the ass involving opening up the top part of the dispenser and manually pouring your cleaning solution in. In following the instructions I got stuck on the step that requires you to warm up the water in the tank because there was no bottle attached and the machine kept trying to suck in water when there was none. With no water being sucked up it never got to actually warm up the water so I got stuck. After a swearing for a bit it occurred to me that I should probably just fill the bottle with the cleaning solution so that I could also clean out the lines instead of just the water tanks. I found this approach to be easier since I didn’t need to open up the dispenser and I got to actually clean the lines, which the instructions provided with the dispenser don’t address.

For ease I would wait till your current water bottle is empty then use that empty bottle to aid in the cleaning process.

Here are the steps I took. It required a little more water than I would’ve liked but I was able to use some of it to water my plants.

1. Turn off the water heater if you have it turned on. It will take some time for the water to cool off. I waited like 40 minutes and it was just warm to the touch.
2. Drain the dispenser of any left over water. I did this by dispensing water from all three taps until nothing came out. Then I pulled the drain plug in the back. Be ready with a bucket or something as it will pour out the second you pull the plug. You will need a screwdriver to remove the plug cover.
3. Fill the empty bottle with close to a gallon of your choice of  cleaning solution. For this I used a mix of vinegar and tap water. I kinda eyeballed it but it was roughly a 50/50 mixture. You could probably get by with less vinegar.
4. Place the bottle back in the dispenser and let the machine fill itself with the cleaning solution.
5. Turn on the water heater and turn off the water cooler. I let the water warm up for about 15 minutes.
6. With the water now heated drain the water from the three taps until the bottle is empty.
7. Turn off the hot water and wait for the water to cool and then finish draining the machine by pulling the plug in the back.
8. At this point you can begin flushing the cleaning solution from the dispenser. If you have another empty bottle you can use that, if you don’t give the bottle that previously held the cleaning solution a rinse until you don’t smell vinegar and fill with a gallon or so of water.
9. Place the bottle with water back into the dispenser and let the machine fill itself.
10. Turn the hot water back on and wait for about 15 minutes.
11. With water now heated drain the water from the three taps until the bottle is empty.
12. Taste and sniff the water it to be sure there is no more vinegar left. If you are still getting vinegar run another gallon of water thru it until you aren’t smelling or tasting the vinegar.
13. Once the water is free of any vinegar drain the remaining water from the three taps.
14. Turn off the water heater and wait for the water to cool off.
15. When water has cooled drain the remainder of the water from the back of the machine by pulling the plug.
16. Add a new bottle drinking water and enjoy your clean lines 🙂