tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post4661779375059402236..comments2024-03-28T22:15:03.524-07:00Comments on QUAKETIPS: Does bottled water really expire? The FDA says no!Matt Springerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-12651845028288099902023-04-30T14:43:57.062-07:002023-04-30T14:43:57.062-07:00oh no! That must have been frustrating... it is n...oh no! That must have been frustrating... it is not the typical experience, so I wonder why. The numbers were a little unclear, you mean there were two jugs of water, each was 2.5 gallons? I only have experience with the 1 gallon jugs, do the larger ones still have a regular screw cap at the top, or a spigot? My info is specific to the 1 gallon screwcap jugs.Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-87306943549802194642023-04-30T13:00:52.228-07:002023-04-30T13:00:52.228-07:00i bought 2 2 and 1/2 gallon jugs of water from ...i bought 2 2 and 1/2 gallon jugs of water from the grocery store. they both started leaking after a year. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-84380260706558346932021-06-30T01:05:18.632-07:002021-06-30T01:05:18.632-07:00I have found the article; it is no longer on the F...I have found the article; it is no longer on the FDA website but was moved to Food Safety Magazine. I've updated the link. Thanks again for letting me know!Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-70310781519223183272021-06-24T21:18:48.071-07:002021-06-24T21:18:48.071-07:00Uh oh, thanks very much for bringing that to my at...Uh oh, thanks very much for bringing that to my attention; I really appreciate it. I will need to look into it and find out where that resource went! Crunched for time at the moment, but I'll look when I can and update the article, and will comment here as well.Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-25581911256082874772021-06-24T21:05:18.819-07:002021-06-24T21:05:18.819-07:00Aloha Matt,
The FDA article you linked to regardin...Aloha Matt,<br />The FDA article you linked to regarding the shelf life of bottled water links to a page that no longer exists. Do you have any updated information about this?<br />MahaloAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11390946441243293051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-81724630527616803982020-10-25T16:19:22.400-07:002020-10-25T16:19:22.400-07:00Hi, I'm afraid I don't have a good answer ...Hi, I'm afraid I don't have a good answer to your question because I don't know much about dehumidifiers. If there's a non-sterile accumulation of water, then fungal growth or algae etc. are possibilities and I wouldn't be able to vouch for the likelihood of that happening, nor of the safety of the water if it did happen. For Q2 though, I suspect that if what you had in 2015 was free of life then, it's probably still clean; but I don't know if the bleach will have interacted with the plastic in some way during that time. I would feel the safest using commercially bottled unopened water.Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-77527573302439733912020-10-25T14:02:45.307-07:002020-10-25T14:02:45.307-07:00Hi Matt,
I'd like some feedback on my situati...Hi Matt,<br /><br />I'd like some feedback on my situation. In 2018 I set up a new dehumidifier set to continuous drain on the top shelf of a cabinet. The output line was fed to a food grade 5 gallon container with a silver/ceramic filter on the bottom of the container. The output of this filter gravity fed to a second food grade container with a spigot installed about 1" above the floor on the sidewall for water takeoff. I used the processed liquid to fill 5 gallon and 3.2 gallon water bricks and added 1/2 tablespoon of household bleach for long term storage. Q1: I was told by another that water from a dehumidifier was unfit for consumption. Is that true? Q2. This project concluded in 2015. The containers are stored on the ground floor under controlled (A/C) conditions. If the water is drinkable, for how long is it likely okay?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078186875747221184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-77030455905112830852019-08-29T15:06:50.593-07:002019-08-29T15:06:50.593-07:00Thanks for this very informative article! I just ...Thanks for this very informative article! I just used some 2011 vintage water and it tasted fine. Granted, it was stored in a cabinet inside the house and was actually fairly cool to the touch, even with the room being in the 80s today.<br /><br />One thing that bears mentioning is that if the water does taste bad, it can always be used for flushing toilets in a disaster scenario.Ryanhttp://hugginshomes.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-62963384526289983962019-06-29T07:00:26.941-07:002019-06-29T07:00:26.941-07:00Thanks for your comment!Thanks for your comment!Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-67308049306887254652019-06-29T06:12:49.409-07:002019-06-29T06:12:49.409-07:00I have old water from 1999 in my spare bedroom and...I have old water from 1999 in my spare bedroom and wondered if it was good, the bottles have sucked in? The water tasted a little off but that was probably due to not being shook & letting air get to it before trying it out. So I found your site & read abunch..<br />Thank you so much for all the information and your dedication to make it available for anybody to read.I don't think I'll drink this water but am happy to know in an emergency situation I could.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11129180805810392936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-36690588609078286172019-04-04T12:02:42.383-07:002019-04-04T12:02:42.383-07:00Yeah, you are essentially in the same situation as...Yeah, you are essentially in the same situation as those who don't have garages and back yards. I've lived in situations where there were lockers in parking structures that could hold most of the water (they were cool), but for 8 years I was in a condo that had no storage outside the unit. I put in shelves with lips in the back of a walk-in closet and put 1 gallon jugs on those shelves. I've found it impractical to store more than 14 gallons in situations like this (7 days for 2 people), so I've also invested in water purification systems for the worst case scenario. At any rate, you are right to be concerned about storing water in the conditions you describe, and I suggest figuring out some indoor location where you can put jugs.Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-35425491829786315182019-04-04T11:18:07.454-07:002019-04-04T11:18:07.454-07:00Matt,
Southern California where I live is basical...Matt,<br /><br />Southern California where I live is basically a desert. Our garage is incredibly hot during Spring, Summer and Fall as there is no air conditioning and windows in this space so it is closed. The backyard sits in the sun for 2-3 hours every afternoon. How can we keep 14 days of water for two persons (28 gallons) as the plastic container and plastic top will degrade. Also, if we store the water in a large garbage can, the sun will keep the interior quite hot and also degrade the water.richardlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15504373436951102672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-31394496156358625462019-03-11T16:23:12.151-07:002019-03-11T16:23:12.151-07:00Thanks, I would say that the Mormon practice of st...Thanks, I would say that the Mormon practice of storing supplies and the earthquake/disaster storage of supplies have a lot in common; just with a longer planned period for the former than the latter. Nonetheless, I presume that the difference is more a matter of quantity, if you really have something that does not expire in the near future. So my best response would be just that the information put forth in the blog article already should be appropriate here as well.<br /><br />Now, I should emphasize that standard disaster preparedness is effectively fulfilled by being able to store something away for a decade, and sooner or later, people are probably just going to decide to update. I had some iodine tablets (for nuclear fallout, hey, why not, the bottle is tiny), and when I went about reassessing my supplies a couple of months ago (see the 1/16/19 article), I noticed that this bottle had an expiration date of 2004 if I recall correctly. I kind of doubt that solid iodide salts will expire but I decided that it was so old that I might as well get a new one. When the FDA says you can put these gallon water jugs into safe storage and forget about them, well there must a be limit somewhere (20 years? 50 years? 1000 years?) but it's not clear where that is. It's a good question and I'm not sure how to answer it. Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-76991182841091075272019-03-11T16:12:49.612-07:002019-03-11T16:12:49.612-07:00I just saw an ad advertising water with 30 and 50 ...I just saw an ad advertising water with 30 and 50 hear shelf life. I know why they don't tell us how to do it but maybe you can. I am LDS (Mormon) and we store food and water. I want to know how to store water for 30 years too.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16922941499361752398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-17430385659124351402019-01-14T09:47:09.454-08:002019-01-14T09:47:09.454-08:00Sorry to hear that. I am not sure what happened t...Sorry to hear that. I am not sure what happened there; all I can do is to refer back to the original sources of info. Again, there should not have been anything in there that would have grown after all those years that didn't grow earlier so perhaps it was a manufacturing defect, couldn't say for sure. I don't have personal experience that many years out; perhaps it is a good idea to check a bottle every few years to confirm the batch is ok since it's much easier to occasionally replace one jug than the whole lot. It's also hard to know under what circumstances these old bottles were stored for all those years (the very idea that they were that old in a store seems strange in the first place); remember that heat and light should both be avoided during storage. Thanks for sharing your experience!Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-41906009958518262162019-01-14T04:01:53.041-08:002019-01-14T04:01:53.041-08:00Today, I opened a bottled water from a LARGE retai...Today, I opened a bottled water from a LARGE retail chain, it tasted lime complete pond water. So nasty I had to examine the date......it was 16 years expired. I'd rather drank my own urine.<br />Wtf is wrong with people they had pallets stacked of this crap. Making it on sale so people buy buy buy. While the FDA doesn't put a shelf life, someone should. Companies should not be able to sell 16 year old expired water.Waterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14035366599826060070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-41565176887193172292018-09-04T02:05:08.904-07:002018-09-04T02:05:08.904-07:00(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and...(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and answering; I just learned that the e-mail notifications of new comments have not been working since early June and were piling up in my moderation inbox without me knowing it.)<br /><br />Thanks for the feedback. Ah yes, Sparkletts water bottles; I grew up with the Sparkletts trucks driving around in LA. When I moved to Northern California, they were the same bottles but they were Alhambra. A little nostalgia there! At any rate, I don't have information about those bottles. They are meant for high throughput, not longterm storage, so they might not be rated for years of stability. Although remember that there is theoretically this effect about which I have read in which water loses aeration and tastes a little funky until air is let in and it is shaken up. I have not tasted that off taste (even after opening my 8-year old bottle) so I can't say whether it was related to your experience.Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-38365245043889240582018-09-04T02:01:15.694-07:002018-09-04T02:01:15.694-07:00(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and...(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and answering, especially as this was a timely post; I just learned that the e-mail notifications of new comments have not been working since early June and were piling up in my moderation inbox without me knowing it.)<br /><br />While this is late in being seen and posted, and I hope you got better soon, it does not sound like the sort of response that one would expect from an old bottle of never-before-opened water. The concerns have been with plastic chemical leaching into the water slowly in a way that could potentially be carcinogenic or have other long-term health effects. But to have stomach problems 15 minutes after drinking it, that's really surprising and I wonder if it could have been coincidental timing and caused by something else. I don't know what the 49 is; it is not a recycle code and is probably just some reference number for the company, not sure. <br /><br />Well, since a lot of time has passed since you initially tried to post this (I feel really badly about the glitch), what ultimately happened? Were you able to pinpoint the cause of the stomach problems? Perhaps food poisoning from earlier that day?Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-3115926841047445362018-09-04T01:54:47.367-07:002018-09-04T01:54:47.367-07:00(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and...(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and answering; I just learned that the e-mail notifications of new comments have not been working since early June and were piling up in my moderation inbox without me knowing it.)<br /><br />Well, you know here in California, we had a few years of drought and people were loathe to waste any water, so that would have been a good use at the time. There's certainly nothing wrong with doing it, although it sounds like a large hassle and I think one of the ways to get people to take these precautions is to minimize the hassle. Nonetheless, never let it be said that I encouraged someone to waste water!Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-66919833126360763232018-09-04T01:52:20.200-07:002018-09-04T01:52:20.200-07:00(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and...(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and answering; I just learned that the e-mail notifications of new comments have not been working since early June and were piling up in my moderation inbox without me knowing it.)<br /><br />Right, and that is fine for a while but is not good for longterm storage. The key here is not that one can go find water jugs that have been sitting in hot storage conditions, but that one can find new water jugs in good shape and then keep them in cool conditions out of the sunlight.Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-26825627453336561862018-09-04T01:50:34.930-07:002018-09-04T01:50:34.930-07:00(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and...(I'm really sorry for the delay in posting and answering; I just learned that the e-mail notifications of new comments have not been working since early June and were piling up in my moderation inbox without me knowing it.)<br /><br />Not really sure what to say. The water molecules clearly are not crossing the plastic, and I don't know if there is a slow transfer of oxygen but I would tend to doubt it because O2 is a bigger molecule than H2O. I have heard that oxygen can very slowly cross regular ziploc plastic bags.Matt Springerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388585440067493359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-52025051556226845922018-08-06T23:18:19.895-07:002018-08-06T23:18:19.895-07:00Commenting about taste here. Actually found this ...Commenting about taste here. Actually found this blog looking up if old water is safe. We just moved and we had some 4 year old sparklettes water jugs stored that we kind of forgot about. I lined most up and dumped them for sparkletes to pick up. Apparently the movers got to two of them I hadn't lined up yet and brought them to the new place. My boyfriend foolishly didn't look at the date on the bottle and put it in the cooler. Right away I noticed it smelled and tasted off. Kind of like the smell and the taste of an old pool toy or super old pair of goggles. (a mixture of plastic and light chlorine) Of course he hadn't the clue what I was talking about "I don't taste anything" I checked the date and what do you know, it is the old water bottle that was meant to be emptied and returned. I have no idea why it tasted and smelled so strongly and chemically in only a few years or how safe it was (my instincts tell me it's probably not to safe) But thought I'd share since no one seems to have these answers.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11469031248498176596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-90828853143274308252018-07-17T10:19:17.312-07:002018-07-17T10:19:17.312-07:00I am not posting a comment, I am a bit concerned ...I am not posting a comment, I am a bit concerned because I drunk a bottle water that is expired over 6 months and It started to cause me stomach problems after 15 minutes.I did not know the water was expired until I looked at the expiry date. This water bottle is from Fuji spring water from some islands. How safe is this brand of water and on the bottom of the bottle there is # 49 and do not know what that number means. As I write I still have a stomach that is making noise. I need your opinion thanksAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09045152975788034460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-54620847437883541562018-07-14T10:28:03.218-07:002018-07-14T10:28:03.218-07:00I am thinking that old water be used for toilet fl...I am thinking that old water be used for toilet flushing, and bathing and maybe even the hedge or tree?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1960936282220367813.post-85349542473443915762018-07-14T10:26:10.942-07:002018-07-14T10:26:10.942-07:00sometimes water gets stored in the sunshine, like ...sometimes water gets stored in the sunshine, like in grocery store windows or outside in a fenced loading zone......even in hot trucksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com