Ice machines are in general never cleaned. Hotels are probably worse than fast food joints, which at least cycle the water through quickly.
The article can be quite misleading because the relevant issue is often not the quantity of bacteria but rather the type, and I strongly suspect toilets are more likely to be harboring pathogens.
Also many other surfaces in the bathroom, which don’t get cleaned, are likely more contaminated than the water in the toilet.
The scariest part of any public restroom has always been the door knob.
You suspect wrong. The worker that didn't wash his/her hands after latrine call and sticks them in the ice machine may have put the exact same pathogens in the ice machine that doesn't get cleaned as often as the toilet bowl.
Ice machines are petri dishes for bacteria. I once cleaned one that had a pink slime on the floor of it, when I got to the bottom. It had NEVER been cleaned.
/johnny
“The article can be quite misleading because the relevant issue is often not the quantity of bacteria but rather the type, and I strongly suspect toilets are more likely to be harboring pathogens.”...You are right.. A friend who works on ice machines for a living confirms that many ice machines are not regularly cleaned but the germs would be vastly different. Plus he says this story is recycled, that every few years this story is revived but the ‘student’ is never named. Personally he said he never orders iced drinks in any place that has a bakery or pizza because it’s the yeast in the air that causes the ugly growth in the ice machines...
Your toothbrush is far more likely to harbor pathogens than your toilet.
At least the stuff in the toilet had to pass through your stomach acid.