Water in old bottles

Finding it, filtering it, treating it all in here!
Bosworth
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by Bosworth »

The shelf life of bottled water bought in a shop (rather than tap water you bottled yourself) is more to do with small amounts of plastic leeching into the water from the bottle packaging. Tiny amount which would cause concern in normal times, but I suspect this would probably be a long way down the list of things to worry about if you were scrabbling around for something clean to drink.
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Deeps
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by Deeps »

Apologies for the lack of science but I used to have a big plastic water container in my cupboard when I was a teenager that I was drinking from maybe 3 years later. I've just remembered this, it was in a cupboard so not direct sunlight but 'camping' water from when I was 14 became 'survival' water when I had a raging hangover at 17. :lol: It certainly didn't make me feel any worse and I used it over a good few 'seshes' after the first one. I'd still go with treating water but where you can but bottled water that is out of date will probably still be drinkable for 'a while'.
Stasher
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by Stasher »

Brambles wrote:Water will indeed last indefinitely, whether it remains safe indefinitely is open to question.

I will continue treat my water before I store it, and rotate it every 6-12 months. I'm not prepared to put mine and my families health at risk for want of 5 minutes time and a few drops of bleach per gallon. I don't drink water out of streams untreated either, but each to their own. :D
At the risk of going off topic I have drunk water from gravel bed streams where I can see that a dead animal is not lying in it upstream! Water comes from underground and is naturally filtered by rock/sand etc I have to ask why you think it's a dangerous activity? Obviously I wouldn't be doing this in an urban environment..............
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Brambles
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by Brambles »

Stasher wrote:
Brambles wrote:Water will indeed last indefinitely, whether it remains safe indefinitely is open to question.

I will continue treat my water before I store it, and rotate it every 6-12 months. I'm not prepared to put mine and my families health at risk for want of 5 minutes time and a few drops of bleach per gallon. I don't drink water out of streams untreated either, but each to their own. :D
At the risk of going off topic I have drunk water from gravel bed streams where I can see that a dead animal is not lying in it upstream! Water comes from underground and is naturally filtered by rock/sand etc I have to ask why you think it's a dangerous activity? Obviously I wouldn't be doing this in an urban environment..............

A lot of parasites, viruses and bacterial infections are carried around by animals and birds and are spread by their droppings and as they drink. A water source may be fine, but then again it may not, as I have the technology available to make sure what I'm drinking won't make me sick, I can't see the point in taking a risk.

Is there a reason you don't treat water? Just curious.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain~anon
Stasher
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by Stasher »

Many years ago I had to drink treated or if I was lucky just boiled water for MONTHS (third world country, living in the back of beyond) which has put me off the taste for a lifetime. Presumably the chemicals don't taste as 'chemically' today. I do still carry purification tablets in the car and wherever we go on holiday and this includes Tenerife, BUT when I am in the UK, in the country, armed with an OS map and being able to see springs welling up from underground and then flowing over gravel I have no compunction in drinking pure water as nature intended. I've done this tbh on three (four?) different continents and providing I am confident that the source is good I will drink it without chemicals or further filtration

The only 'bad' water I've drunk and been extremely ill after drinking has been from sealed bottles/plastic packs that 'should' have been ok,

So I guess your original post on treating all water 'holds water' :lol:

You are dead right, bad water completely incapacitates you, it doesn't just make you sick it takes feeling unwell to a whole new level so if one is not confident of the water purity one should filter/treat accordingly
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Bosworth
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by Bosworth »

What was wrong with the bottles to make you so ill?
Feels like an important lesson to be shared.
Stasher
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by Stasher »

Bosworth wrote:What was wrong with the bottles to make you so ill?
Feels like an important lesson to be shared.
Stupidly I bought them from a street vendor and drank as I was hot and dehydrated. It became clear (!) the water was not 'clean' altho I saw locals drinking the water presumably their systems were adjusted to the less than pure water following years of their systems being abused

The bottles were sealed, but obviously the water came from a less than perfect source
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featherstick
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by featherstick »

gary5wift wrote:I use Milton tablets to sterilise the bottles then fill them with tap water, I don't add bleach because tap water is already chlorinated. I leave an air gap the top for expansion and put them in the chest freezer. This helps to make the freezer more efficient by filling up empty space and should help keep the other contents stay frozen for longer in the event of a power failure.
...or if you forget to plug your freezer back in for a couple of days..... :oops:
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Bad Wombat
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by Bad Wombat »

Hamradioop wrote:All sources recommend that people drink 8 glasses each and every day.
Here is what New Scientist (24 Aug 2013) had to say about the "8 glasses a day" advice.
Stasher
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Re: Water in old bottles

Post by Stasher »

Bad Wombat wrote:
Hamradioop wrote:All sources recommend that people drink 8 glasses each and every day.
Here is what New Scientist (24 Aug 2013) had to say about the "8 glasses a day" advice.
OK, I'm going to 'wade in' here :D

Eight glasses of water a day has been recently called into question BUT IF YOU ARE PREPPING FOR LOSS OF UTILITIES (and specifically water either in a teotwawki situation or where your mains has simply been cut off) why is this an issue? Two litres a day per person appears to be a sensible, measurable quantity to me. If you think that 2l pp is too much, then don't store as much, if you think that's a sensible amount (bearing in mind you're going to need some water for washing either yourself, items or surfaces) then prep for 2l a day per pp. If you think it's not enough, prep more ! ? !

Surely 2l pp per day is sensible, I do not prep to survive on as little as possible, I prep to be comfortable, but then I'm not expecting the zombie apocalypse

TBH I'd rather think, blow me, I really didn't need all this stored water rather than b*******, we're going to run out of water, I should have stored more

Bear in mind that I am not on mains and we are solely responsible for getting our own water for drinking and hygiene. When the pump goes down we know we have to sort it, and quickly or we're stuffed, no bowsers from the friendly water company here

Rant over, soap box kicked over on it's side............... :D
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