Cat Fountain - how to keep mildew free???

[GILL]

We have 4 fountains, 2 med Petmates and 2 large Petmates. Mildew has never been a problem in the last 6 years. We use straight tap water from our well (rock hard) the fountains are cleaned every 3-7 days. The filter is changed every other month. We do have a calcium build up around the bowl and on the sides of the ramp. Thats a pain to clean off, you have to use a course srub pad, but the rest just gets cleaned with as soft scrub pad. Then when the filters are changed they all get a good cleaning with mild dish soap.

[Randi]

I have not seen in Fister's PetMate, I clean it once week, I take it apart and put vinegar in - I have to because the water has a lot of Calcium. Fister seems to prefer drinking from it when the water has been in for a day, but I top it off in the evening with bottled water from the fridge.

Fister still goes and stand in front of the bathroom door to get me come and turn the tap on - he loves running water, too.

Could it be that you have scratched the surface of it, which might make it stick?

[sirrahbed]

Like Randi and others above, I only see the hard water/calcium buildup. The more I scrape it off, I think I do tend to scratch the surface and so it looks worse! Could it be you are seeing mineral deposits rather than mold or mildew? It gets rinsed out so often and the water flows, so it does not seem likely to me that mildew could form?

Every so often, I take it all apart and pour bleach on it, then scrub with a toothbrush.

The fountain I have now is a Drinkwell and it has a grey textured surface that tends to look better than the shiny white Petmate fountain. Still gets that gritty water line though! (our water is VERY hard even with a softener!)