Water is a true elixir of life. There is no growth, development or health without water. It is essential to all living organisms on Earth and one can’t even imagine how the plant would look life if the water is gone. The necessary amount of water is not the same for all living creatures, but still we all need it. Humans regularly drink water during the day. Health experts suggest that the amount of about two liters of water per day would suffice our daily needs. Did you ever ask yourself about the quality of water? Of course you did. What about the shelf life of water? Does it have an expiration date?
Water does not contain any sugars or proteins, which are the main reason for many groceries, food and beverage to go off. The chemistry of water could be affected by outer conditions. In the most cases, it will change the taste of it, but it doesn’t make it unsafe for drinking. On the other hand, exposure to unfriendly microorganisms could make the difference and increase the risk of infectious diseases.
Tap water
So, can tap water actually go bad and does drinking old tap water make us feel bad or sick? The answer is a bit tricky. Of course tap water that stays in the glass can be contaminated. If you pour tap water in the glass and just leave it, without drinking, it could get in touch with dirt from the area around, but it does not mean that it will contaminate it n a way that water goes bad like other food and drinks.
On the other hand, as soon as glass gets into touch with our lips and mouth, we introduce microorganisms to the water. When we leave the glass from which we already took a sip, microorganisms react to outer conditions. Combined with the temperature in the room and exposure to natural light, bacteria start to multiply.
Pure tap water in clean glass could probably survive for a day or two. However, it is not recommended to drink it, because of the dirt that it can get in touch with, even if we keep it covered. On the other hand why would anyone drink aged water, if the tap is available? However, it is safe to drink if we have to. Almost all tap water contains chlorine additives. Chlorine is essential to keep tap water free of bad microorganisms.
A day old tap water could taste strange, because after half a day it goes flat and carbon dioxide interacts with its chemical composition, lowering its pH value. This process affects the taste of water, but most probably it is still safe to consume. Household dust could also affect the taste of the water. Therefore it is better to get rid of it or wash your glass and pour some fresh water.
If you use the same dirty glass day after day, you raise risk of unfriendly bacteria development in your drinking water. The worst scenario is that someone else also sipping from your glass. New and clean glass every day would easily reduce the risk. However, all of this is not concerned as a dangerous health concern in general.
However, you should pay serious attention when it comes to dirty fingers. Never touch your glass if you by any reason didn’t wash your hands after using the toilet. If you handle your glass with unwashed hands, you could easily make the way for colonies of harmful microorganisms to your water. That would certainly increase the risk for getting ill.
Bottled water
When it comes to bottled water, the situation is a bit different. It should never be exposed to heat, because plastic and high temperature are a really bad combination. The thing is that the chemicals incorporated in the material used to manufacture plastic packages, along with other things, would easily leach into the content of a bottle when exposed to heat.
So, never keep your bottled water exposed to sunlight r any other heating source. The chemicals from plastic materials are dangerous to humans’ health. Some studies suggest it can increase the risk for several serious health problems, such as heart diseases and cancer. Plastic water bottles are not intended to be used over and over again, although many people do so. The best advice is to discard the bottle, once you consumed all the content and not to use it for tap water.
Storage of water
If you want to make supplies of tap water and store it for a longer period of time, then you should know that it couldn’t last indefinitely. According to experts, tap water should be safe to drink within six months. After that point it becomes unsafe. The chlorine would dissipate, allowing bacteria to grow freely. If you keep bottles of tap water exposed to sun or heat, which would certainly accelerate the process.
Pre-packaged water could last at least a year. However, the best advice is to renew your supplies after a year. Over the time, some water will eventually evaporate. That is the obvious sign hat the plastic packages are not impregnable. If you want to reduce the risk of pollution of supplies of prepackaged water, you should keep it away from pesticides, gasoline and other chemicals. Some would say that bottled water could last indefinitely, if it is stored in a proper way. However, be cautious and make sure you keep it in good conditions.
