I’ve had my Nespresso for four years and never had a problem with algae in the water tank which is always filled with reverse osmosis water. Its been in the same location all this time away from any natural light source. I recently used the Nespresso descaling kit and now for the second time since I come down in the morning to algae. Do I need to replace the tank?
by Ducati_Doug
11 Comments
Had this happen once many months ago and I washed the tank with water and baking soda. Haven’t any issues since.
I don’t know if you need to replace it but there’s no way I wouldn’t have immediately thrown it away the first time I found it
Could be wrong, but i suspect the RO water is the problem. No chlorine, so it leaves an environment that algae is happy to grow in with even a little light. I would clean the hell out of the reservoir, rinse the system, and switch to filtered water.
I’ve been using RO water with a machine for years and never had this issue. I wash the tank about once a week with soap and water…
I put my tanks in the dishwasher every 3 weeks. Never had this problem.
Algae are mostly benign, you won’t die, you wont’ even get sick. Probably. Algae spores are everywhere, like yeast. You cannot prevent the spores from settling on your Nespresso unit and some might get into the tank. Natural light is not a factor although it wil probably grow faster if you place the tank in a window. The LEDs you have in your kitchen have excellent gro-lite spectra. Sterilizing the tank is an almost useless gesture siomce the spores are in the air but it will make you feel better.
This happened to my machine once. It was on the kitchen counter and got light from a nearby window and under cabinet lights. I moved it under a different cabinet further from the window (closed on 3 sides) to a darker area, it hasn’t happened again.
You can order a new tank from nespresso. Just place your order by calling customer service and the tank is less than 10 dollars.
Vinegar or Hydrogen peroxide or bleach, maybe?
Am I extra for washing this before every refill?
I get some at the bottom of mine maybe yearly. I put a good amount of salt in the bottom and add some lemon juice until it’s a slurry and then slosh it around. Comes right up. Then simply rinse. I learned this years ago to clean coffee carafes at work when they get baked on coffee on the bottom.