We need to replace our cottage fridge, and we’re debating the value of one with a built-in water dispenser. Since the water will sit in that little inlet pipe all week, won’t bacteria grow and infect the first person to fill a glass each weekend?—Dereck Martin, Georgian Bay, Ont.
Not to any degree that’s going to make the water unsafe. “I wouldn’t worry about it from a microbiological perspective,” says David Evans, a professor emeritus in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta. “There’s no reason to think that anything would be more likely to grow in the fridge’s water dispenser than anywhere else in the cottage’s water supply,” he says.
Plus, if, as most cottagers do, you leave the fridge running between cottage visits, “the water is chilled. Nothing is going to grow very quickly anyway,” he says.
Cottage Q&A: Am I required to treat my lake water before drinking it?
Of course, this is only true if you follow the fridge manufacturer’s advice when it comes to regular cleaning or other maintenance, and that, more importantly, the water going into your fridge is already safe to drink. “If you’re concerned about anything in the lines, because it’s not a relatively sterile water supply, you have more to worry about than just your fridge,” says Evans.
But let’s assume you have an appropriate whole-home water treatment system in place. If you’re away from the cottage for a couple of weeks, “it’s still good practice to run a few glasses through the water dispenser,” says Evans. Fridge manufacturers recommend this too, if only to get rid of the “stale” water in the fridge’s reservoir.
You might also want to clear out the fridge’s ice dispenser, says Evans. “When ice is sitting around, eventually it can absorb smells.” He notices this with the ice maker in his own fridge. There’s no health or safety reason for ditching the ice, it’s just that “the ice can get kind of nasty.”
Got a question for Cottage Q&A? Send it to answers@cottagelife.com.
This article was originally published in the September/October 2025 issue of Cottage Life.
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