How Often Should You Change Your Bong Water?

One of the questions that we get very often from our customers, is how often should you change your bong water? There are several things to consider when answering this question, so let us explain what you should do and how often to change your bong water.

How long can the water stay in my bong?

In theory, there is no real limit to the amount of time that water can stay inside a bong. Water doesn’t magically go bad if there are no bacteria or mold inside, and you’re not going to drink it (bong water is not supposed to reach the inside of your mouth). So it’s pretty safe to say that nothing horrible is going to happen when you leave water in your bong for a very long time, except if it looks moldy, or a sick person has been using it or coughed in it or anything like that. You don’t want to inhale any bacteria or mold particles, period. Does bong water get moldy? If you change it at least once a day, there’s no need to ask this question and you won’t have to worry about your health.

Now imagine that you’ve used your bong a couple of times without cleaning it, and then you decide to leave the water in the bong. The impurities from the smoke, such as tar, that have been filtered out by the water remain in the bong and the first thing that will happen is that you’ll notice a horrible smell coming from your bong. So if you want your house or room to smell fresh, don’t leave the water in your bong after using it. One bong with old, dirty water can really make a whole room smell disgusting.

Another thing that will happen, is that the dirty water will ruin the taste of your next bong hit. Weed is expensive enough (although it’s getting quite cheap in many countries thanks to legalization of marijuana), so you want to enjoy your bong hit to the fullest. That’s a reason to add fresh water to your bong instead of using dirty old water that has been in the bong for days.

How often should I change my bong water?

You should change your bong water as often as you feel necessary: there’s nothing wrong with using the bong water several times. Just don’t keep it in the bong for more than a few hours or even a day, to avoid bacteria growing inside your bong water and making you sick. If you change it every day, you’re safe.

But what about the quality and flavour of my bong hit? Well, that’s another story! There are some stoners who insist on changing their bong water after every bong hit, or even giving it a good clean after each hit. We think this is a little bit too much, whereas you can easily take several bong hits using the same water without really affecting the taste very much. 

How often should I clean my bong?

You really don’t NEED to clean your bong after every bong hit, and you don’t need to change the water after every hit (as long as you’re not letting it sit for hours after each hit). Having said that, it IS of course possible to change your bong water after every hit. Especially if you only take one bong hit a day (or less), you want the bong hit to be perfect. In that case, we would recommend to simply use fresh water for every bong hit so you get an optimal smoking experience and flavour, although it isn’t necessary to fully clean your bong after every hit.

Does clean bong water make a difference?

Clean bong water makes a huge difference. Just think of it: the water in your bong acts as a filter for the smoke, and when a filter gets dirty, it doesn't work as well anymore. A dirty filter loses its effectiveness, and that's the same with dirty bong water. But it's not only less effective, it also tastes gross. You prefer to cook in a clean pan, right? To eat from a clean plate, with clean silverware? To sit in a clean chair? Or wear clean clothes? Maybe you don't, but one thing is for sure: a bong hit from a clean bong tastes much better, and a clean bong smells much better than a dirty bong. In fact, a clean bong doesn't smell at all. If you don't clean your bong and use clean water, this is what you'll be looking for on Google:

My whole room smells like dirty bong

If your whole bong smells like a dirty bong, there is only one way out:

• clean your bong more often
• use clean bong water
• don't leave dirty water in your bong

How to clean my bong?

Why you should clean your bong is something we don't need to explain: you want a fresh and enjoyable bong hit every time you use your glass pipe. How you should clean your bong or dab rig depends on what kind of bong you have, but it doesn't have to be difficult. In fact, if you use the right cleaning products, cleaning a bong is really easy. Read more about cleaning bongs here.

How often to change dab rig water

If you are a Reddit reader, you may have come across this post by Bongbus766 asking how often he should change his dab rig water:

"I exclusively smoke dabs from my rig and was wondering how often I should be changing the water in said rig. There is no plant material so the water still smells okay and looks perfectly clear so I am wondering if it is dangerous to not change it for up to a month's time?"

That's an interesting question! A dab rig gets less dirty than a bong does, so why change the water as often? Is it really necessary to use clean dab rig water every day? Let's go back to two things we said before. First: you should change your dab rig water as often as you feel is necessary. If you don't mind the taste and smell of dab rig water that has been used before, then what's the issue with using it? Probably nothing, but you need to keep in mind that the longer the water is in your dab rig, the higher the chances of bacteria and other contaminations getting into your bong. Even though the water still looks clear and smells okay, it may be contaminated. So we would advise to use fresh dab rig water at least every few days to avoid the risk of contamination. And if the water doesn't look clear anymore, be sure to replace it right away, because it may be dangerous. But let's be honest here, people: this is just common sense.

Give yourself a perfect smoking experience, and change your bong water so that you can enjoy a fresh and tasty bong hit (Triple Turbine Bong by Black Leaf)

Use these trick to clean your bong less often

You want to enjoy a clean and fresh bong hit, without cleaning your bong every day or even after every hit? We’ve got the perfect solution for you: Limpuro Tar Blocker for bongs. You simply add a few drops of tar blocker to your bong water, and it will prevent the tar from sticking to the glass. Then simply rinse the bong after use, and you flush out (almost) all of the tar without having to clean it! Perfect for keeping your bong clean, especially complex percolator bongs or bongs with multiple honeycomb discs.

The newest invention in this field is our own SmokeWater (Magic Bong Water). This product keeps your bong clean just like Limpuro Tar Blocker, but it works even better and it's easier to use. SmokeWater also increases the filtration power of your bong, so you inhale less toxic particles.

Another thing to consider is to use an activated carbon filter for your bong. Activated carbon filters the smoke before it enters the bong, and therefore less dirty particles such as tar reach the inside of your bong. The bong water doesn’t get contaminated as much, and you can easily use the bong water a few more times without it ruining the flavour of your herbs. The carbon also makes the smoke session much healthier, because you inhale less tar and carbon monoxide. A similar effect can be achieved by using a pre-cooler: this also filters the smoke before it enters the bong, by adding an extra level of water filtration. If you use a pre-cooler, you could just rinse the pre-cooler after every bong hit while leaving the water in your bong a little longer, because the pre-cooler keeps it from getting very dirty very quickly.

Image: SmokeWater Magic Bong Water

Can dirty bong water kill you?

As far as we know, there are no known cases of dirty bong water actually killing people. But it's definitely possible to get very sick from smoking from a dirty bong, especially when the dirty bong water comes into contact with your mouth. But it's not the actual dirt from smoking weed (tar and ashes, mostly) that's dangerous. Let's say you and your friends smoke 50 bong hits in a row, in just 10 minutes. The bong is - of course - very dirty now. But even though the bong water is probably black in color, it's not really dangerous to get a drop of this stuff in your mouth. So what is dangerous? How can a dirty bong kill you? Imagine that you take a bong hit, and the weed was slightly moldy (which you didn't notice, of course, because you wouldn't smoke it then.. I hope!). The mold particles were drawn into the water while smoking, and now you put the bong away (with the water inside) for a week or two. The next time when you see the bong again, there's a lot of mold in the bong water. This is something you definitely do not want to get into your mouth. It may not kill you, but it just might.