Stale, stagnant water sitting around for a long period of time undisturbed can be a breeding ground for bacteria, fungus, viruses and yeast. This is true of any dishwater you have left in the sink, a puddle left in your garden… and the bong water in your spiderman pipe.
Smoking a hit “filtered” through the equivalent of pond scum can transport all sorts of nasty pathogens into your mouth and lungs. Some contaminants can cause mild dizziness or fatigue, and others could expose you to extremely serious illnesses including Hepatitis A, pneumonia, and strep throat. Smoking already affects your lungs by a margin, to make that worse with dirty bong water can induce complications such as bronchitis or coughing. Having a lot of resin buildup in your bong might mean you should either clean it or replace it. If you are buying a new one, try looking for bongs with different glass materials and styles like vodka bongs, glow in the dark bongs, or percolator bongs. However, to be on the safer side, you can use add ons to block dirty bong water from getting into your mouth, cool the smoke for a less harsh hit, or filter the ash.
Because of COVID-19 spreading across the globe, being conscious of our health has never been so important. Having a weaker immune system as the result of breathing dirty bong water is not ideal for anyone, so we must make changes to prevent that. You could just swap to using delta 8 THC gummies instead (whilst they are still legal of course – follow this link for latest updates), as this will still give you a mild psychoactive high and the health benefits but is a much more sterile way of consuming it. But if you are set on smoking, then just ensure you are taking the correct precautions.
It is good that everyone has become a lot more germ-conscious as of late and are taking better care to prevent pathogens breeding in their home. Hopefully, this positive trend has already extended into the world of cannabis equipment and supply maintenance. However, habits are hard to change, and truth be told, many folks have spent years with zero concern about the old bong water in their pipe. Yet, there’s no time like the present to turn over a new “leaf.”
The most important step is to clean out your bong on a regular basis and don’t let it sit there with old water in it. This will help reduce the chance for nasty pathogens to multiply in the bong and potentially affect you. For more guidance on the proper way to clean a bong, check out the accompanying resource.
