Old water taste test

Those of you into storing stuff for emergencies might find this of interest one way or another:

About 3 years ago I filled up a 1 liter Nalgene lexan water bottle with tap water to take on a hike, but ended up not using it. I didn't add Clorox or anything like that. The full bottle then sat in my kitchen for the next 3 years. Today I wanted to use the bottle again, so I opened it and smelled the water and tasted a swig of it. Basically it was odorless and unremarkable tasting. It didn't even have that flat taste of water whose dissolved air has all boiled off. If I didn't know it had been sitting so long, I couldn't have told it from a bottle of tap water filled an hour earlier. Nonetheless I figured there was no point in asking for trouble by drinking it, so I poured it out and washed the bottle, but certainly if I had no other water, the stuff in that bottle seemed fine.

I have several gallon bottles under the sink stored before Y2K with similar non-treatment and I've been meaning to get around to sampling some of those too. Maybe soon.

brave man

Probably enough chlorine in the tap (and hopefully potable) water to render it bacteria-minimized. The plasticizers should knock off whatever bugs remain in the line.

Water doesn't get old.. it does however get contaminated. If it was sealed, it could taste good for well beyony 3 years. Chlorine is very unstable and looses strength rapidly. If there was any chlorine in the tap water(probably less than 1 ppm), it would no longer be effective after a short time.

Chlorine is meant to kill living organizims, but what are we, if not living organizims

Actually in classes I've attended, aesthetics like old, stale water are mentioned. (Like tiktok said though, it's the contamination you would be worried about.) They actually have a handful of people with official sniffing and tasting abilities that determine the aesthetic qualities of a given sample of water. (funny but true) The problem with chlorine (in the doses used in typical water treatment) isn't really the chlorine, it's the by-products created by chlorine reacting with organic materials in the water. The EPA is all over this and there are methods to reduce the formation of disinfection by-products. There are also contaminant level limits as well. Chlorine is still the most cost effective and efficient means to disinfect mass quantities of water. I would not even consider drinking untreated raw water, bad as chlorine sounds.

Something new to worry about. Cities are starting to change from simple chlorine to clhoromine (chlorine and ammonia) to disinfect our domestic water.

In older cities that still have lead pipe, it appears that this change in water quality can lead to high levels of lead in drinking water.

Water in D.C. Exceeds EPA Lead Limit

Notice that this fine government kept the test results quiet for over a year...

Here is another article with a little more about the problem... Remember, brass and even lead-free brass sink fixtures contain lead (as well as older homes with lead soldered copper pipes).

This may, or may not, be a big problem as clhoromine is rolled out (lead paint and other sources may still be a bigger problem for many)... But, I am thinking of getting a small under-sink water filter for our home this weekend. Our water system changed just last month.

-Bill

sidenote:
the tap water in my bathroom smells like farts

BBTL, (yum, Bacon/Bacon Lettuce and Tomato, drool ;P )

Your house has a Hyrdrogen Sulfide problem. This a pretty good link on the problem and the solutions.

-Bill

I nice thread from a forum(pool) I frequently visit regarding the EPA and water treatment:

http://www.poolforum.com/cgi-local/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=163&forum=DCForumID1&archive=yes

Be reminded...this post is almost three years old.