The Truth Behind Day-Old Water

Drinking from the same glass of water nightly?

We’ve all done it- left a glass of water on the dresser next to our bed, continuing to drink it each morning and night.  But as the nights pass, do you ever realize that the taste starts to differ?  Maybe an ‘off’ taste slowly starts to give off?

 

The reason? As time passes, tap water begins to develop an off taste.  In treated water, like the one next to your bed, chlorine is added.  This chlorine multiplies the microorganisms rapidly at room temperature.  With just one sip from the glass, tons and tons of germs are added to this mix.  However, this off taste comes from the carbon dioxide.  Nearly 12  hours after tap water is poured, it begins to flat due to the carbon dioxide in the air mixing with the water in the glass.  Conclusively, this causes a decrease in its pH giving it this acquired off taste.

 

Despite the development of an off taste, the water next to your bed is most-likely still safe to drink for a few days.  However, leaving the water out for an extended period of time, continuing to drink it, increases some risks.  Using a dirty glass continuously will cause bacteria to form.  This creates a risk for you and any other mouth sharing this glass.  Such risk is not likely to be put in effect within a few days unless dirty fingers touch the rim of your glass.  Fingers carry more germs, increasing the formation of bacteria and risk if drinking from this glass. The general rule for tap water is it holds “a shelf life of six months”.  After this time, the chlorine dissolves, causing bacteria and algae to begin to grow (especially if the stored water is in a warm or sunny spot).

 

Using a plastic bottle?

Plastic, however, is a completely different story! To be blunt- leaving plastic water bottles out, specifically in the car or out in the sun- is a bad and risky idea.  Plastic bottles are made with the chemical bisphenol A, better known as BPA, along with other harmful chemicals (to manufacture the plastic).   BPA emulates hormones in our body, which is conclusively proven as harmful, especially in young children and babies.  Heating up a bottle, causes such chemicals to seep in, ultimately creating and increasing such threats to the body.  Dr. Kellogg Schwab, director of the Johns Hopkins University Water Institute, also adds that plastic bottled water is not meant to be washed and refilled.   In other words, such commercial bottles are for a one time use and then to be recycled.

 

So now the question may rise- if I’m only using this bottle once, why should I even bother buying it?  Evidently, you shouldn’t! Buy reusable water bottles, making sure they’re BPA free.  This ensures an endless opportunity of usage and a guarantee from the harmful risks imbedded in the chemicals used in plastic bottles.

 

Personally, I found this article exciting, engaging, and very prevalent!  Several efforts have been made in our school community to veer away from plastic water bottles and towards reusable ones.  This article provided essential evidence to do so, along with applicable risks and advantages.  This article not only serves as an informational piece, but also a lesson for our own daily doings.

 

 

Used website:

http://www.treehugger.com/health/day-old-water-safe-drink.html

 

Linked websites:

http://juicing-for-health.com/is-day-old-or-overnight-water-safe-to-drink.html

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/221205.php

(This 2nd article explains more about the chemical BPA- which was briefly discussed- and the risks it endures)

 

Image source:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/542497582