How Long Can You Leave Water In a Keurig?

Keurigs are relatively known as the coffee maker in every modern home in this day and age. However, for the amount of people that have a Keurig in their home, there are loads of people that have zero idea how to upkeep one. 

While this is a pretty simple task, it is important to learn the important factors that help keep your Keurig up and running and offering the best flavor possible. One of the pieces of that puzzle is the water in a Keurig. If you aren’t an avid coffee drinker or go out of town often, then leaving water in the Keurig may happen quite often. However, knowing the cutoff time for this habit is crucial to keeping your coffee tasting its best. 

Cutoff Time

First question to ask: should you leave water in your Keurig? Is this habit even a good idea for a day or two, or should there be fresh water refilled with each use? This is a bit of a nuanced question. Technically, it is okay to let the water sit in the reservoir before brewing the coffee, but the amount of time that is acceptable is probably shorter than you think. 

So how long can you leave water in a Keurig? The cutoff time is actually only 12 hours. So for those of us who have never dumped the reservoir out, it might be time to change up your coffee routine. There are a few reasons for this short time. 

Why Do You Need to Empty the Reservoir? 

First and foremost, bacteria can start to grow when you leave the water to fester inside the Keurig for more than 12 hours. This can lead to illnesses, and is just downright gross to think about drinking contaminated coffee. Luckily, when put into extreme heat, most bacteria does die off. However, to be safe, the 12 hour limit is in place for peace of mind for you and the machine. 

Also, the longer than you leave water out, the more stale it becomes. Yes. Water can go stale against most people’s beliefs. Ever wondered why the coffee you drank just a few days ago has a worse taste today? There’s a good chance it is because you are using stale water this go around.  To get back to that original flavor you fell in love with, try emptying out the reservoir and seeing the difference. 

How to Empty the Water Reservoir

So how do you go about emptying out a water reservoir? After all, the water doesn’t sit in the detachable reservoir alone. It also sits inside of the Keurig. This is a bit of an ordeal. 

Before we get into how to empty the reservoir, to prevent needing to do this in the first place, you can always pour close to the amount of water that you will need to brew your coffee exactly. For example, if you know you will only need two cups in the morning, fill up two coffee cups with water and pour only this amount into the reservoir. 

If you do accidentally fill your Keurig up too much and leave the water sitting longer than 12 hours, be ready to do a bit of disassembling to get things back in order. Here’s a quick step by step on how to accomplish this: 

1. Find the Drain Pipe

Each Keurig is different, so this might take a bit of exploring. This is where the water reservoir connects to the Keurig, and in return, where the water inside the Keurig is sitting. 

2. Unplug the Drain Pipe

When you have managed to locate the drain pipe, you can unplug it and let the water run out fully. However, this is not as simple as one might think. First, you’ll need to unscrew the cover to this area. It might also be secured with a tie, which you’ll need to cut. When that is finished, find the plug and pull it out. 

3. Reassemble the Drain Pipe

When it’s fully drained, put the machine back together and the draining process is complete! Welcome back to tasty and fresh coffee again!