Plastic waterers

[MarlaMac]

Has anyone has issues with plastic waterers getting funky on them? I have one like the one pictured, but 3 gals. Lately I have had to wash it out more frequently. I used to be able to go 7-10 days before it needed to be cleaned out b/c it begins to smell a little moldy; now I am having to do it every 3-4 days. I empty and rinse the waterers daily. When they begin to smell I clean them with bleach and then thoroughly rinse them and allow them to dry overnight. Wondering if they have a life span or maybe the bleaching has deteriorated the plastic. I have two, they both have this issue.

Any thoughts?

 

[Debbie292d]

We use a 5-gallon DYI nipple waterer, and have two 3-gallon plastic electric nipple waterers, and in all of them we put a dribble of RV Water Freshener in. I would get yours totally clean, then try adding like 1/2 teaspoon of it. Here's a photo of the kind we got from Walmart a few years ago. It lasts a very long time as you need very little.

 

[Loving my girls]

I know that bleach discolours plastic but I don’t know if it actually damages it.
My only thought is do you leave it in the sun ? And if you use a scratchy thing to clean it. If you do perhaps it makes small indents which make nice cozy warm places for the bacteria to increase?
I have a green one, similar but 3 ltr, I change the water every week or more (weather dependent) and keep it in the shade I wipe the inside before I fill it. I do get algae in the tray and I roughly wipe that each day. Hope this helps.
Hugz