Does Water go bad?

During the pre we are all going to die millennium bash, I stored up alot of water in cleaned out 3 liter bottles. When we all didn't die, i forgot about them. Left them in a outside storage shed. I just happened to find them the other day and they have fungus, and all sorts of crap growing inside of them.

So my question is how long can you store water. or

What can you store water in that will last a long time?

Water in an open container can start going algae in about a week.

If you go to a store and buy purified drinking water in plastic jugs you can that is sealed up you can store it indefinitely.

Originally posted by Royal76
What can you store water in that will last a long time?

If its been boiled or distilled, then anything that is clean and completely sealed will keep it for as long as the seal lasts.

enjoie
If you go to a store and buy purified drinking water in plastic jugs you can that is sealed up you can store it indefinitely.

Interestingly, some bottled water is industrially produced (ie, is a waste product of a sort), so that's probably the cleanest water (distilled, etc), whereas tap water, or even some 'natural' bottled water might have organisms living in it.

[edit on 1-2-2007 by Nygdan]

I was under the impression that water will last for just about ever as long as it doesnt evaporate.

If you find stuff growing it it, you just need to filter it, boil it off and you're ready to go.

You can store it in anything as well, althought i think there has been some research suggesting that over time the chemicals used in the production of plastic bottles may eventually break down into the water and cause all sorts of interesting and possibly unpleasant side-effects.

Simple solution: Buy some water purification tablets or iodine drops. Put them in, and they will keep that water drinkable and healthy anywhere from 6 months up to a year.
When that time finishes, all you have to do is put another tablet/drop in, and it's good for another year.

I thought plastic containers were no good because of whatever's in the plastic? (guess then I should ask: what kind of plastic container is best?)

The container you use needs to be made from a food grade material in order to avoid leaching problems. Glass, stainless steel and some plastics are food grade.
...
In the long run...
Several alert readers pointed out that plastic milk jugs might not be the very best container for long-term storage because they degrade and tend to leak after a year or two. Most of these readers recommend plastic soda bottles or large 5-gallon containers specifically intended for water storage.

source

To keep water fresh and fit for human use, it is a good practice to rotate water supplies every 2 to 4 months.

source

This begs the question: what happens to the water that makes it no good anymore?

I have heard that 2 liter (soda) bottles will work, but you have to keep them out of the sun otherwise the water becomes useless... but I never understood why...

It because various things, bacteria, algae, fungi, etc. may have gotten in the water before you sealed it and algae and other photosynthetic lifeforms will grow with sunlight.

Originally posted by Diseria
I have heard that 2 liter (soda) bottles will work, but you have to keep them out of the sun otherwise the water becomes useless... but I never understood why...

The sun degrades the plastic.

We have 5 gallon water jugs, with 5-7 drops of chlorine bleach per gallon of water stored. Ours are marked with the date 6 months in the future, at which time we rotate it out. Properly stored water can last indefinitely, but 6-12 months is more practical.

[edit on 1-2-2007 by Benevolent Heretic]

Water becomes stagnant after it sits for a while. There may be a way to solve this problem,but the answer to your question is, yes, water can go bad.

Originally posted by Royal76
What can you store water in that will last a long time?

You could always store water in large mason jars that have been processed in a pressure cooker/canner. That should last indefinitely.

But it'd probably be much easier and cheaper to just buy and store sterilized bottled water.

One good tip with regards to water was passed on to me by an old Army friend who's now left the regiment, he used to drink rain water regularly. He did this because on exercise everyone gets the craps, after one exercise he went to a civvy doctor and asked him what could be done about it. The doctor advised him to drink fresh rainwater a often as he could, this is because rainwater contains lots of impurities and microbes but not enough to make you ill. This way the body builds up a defense to the microbes that are found in streams. Guess what...

.... It worked we now get the craps far less often on exercise after drinking stream water. Yippee

Originally posted by Jimmy1880
One good tip with regards to water was passed on to me by an old Army friend who's now left the regiment, he used to drink rain water regularly. He did this because on exercise everyone gets the craps, after one exercise he went to a civvy doctor and asked him what could be done about it. The doctor advised him to drink fresh rainwater a often as he could, this is because rainwater contains lots of impurities and microbes but not enough to make you ill. This way the body builds up a defense to the microbes that are found in streams. Guess what...

.... It worked we now get the craps far less often on exercise after drinking stream water. Yippee

Most people wont believe it but that actually helps a little.

There is a reusable,and reasonably cheap drinking straw that purifys water as you suck it up.....itfilters even viruses of most types too.
They are going to be a great boon to the third world......check em out...

You should invest in a water purifier. There is a manual pump that can latch onto a sports bottle (like Gatorade), and funnel impure water through a hose, making it purified as it passes through the top. The filter used in the top can be washed out every 10 pumps or so, even using the water your filtered through it.

With plastic containers, you're likely to have a shorter lifespan for the water. My advice would be to place the water in glass bottles and boil the bottles with the water inside of it in a pot of water. Adding a drop of bleach to the water before boiling will ensure all contaminants are cleaned. The lid for the bottles can either be hard plastic (which should be placed on after boiling, and dipping it into the pot of water to make sure all surface bacteria are also killed) or using a normal metal cap that comes with the bottle. To prevent rust on caps made from aluminum, make sure the water has no salinity or else the cap will oxidize in time.

[edit] I would also like to add: True pure water will never go bad. Pure water contains many properties that normal water does not have, such as the ability to avoid rusting and oxidizing metals.

[edit on 1-2-2007 by DJMessiah]

Actually, there is some mixed info on this thread.

If it is pure tap water, even sealed, water can only last maybe a year max.

If it is pure tap water, sealed, and it has Water Preserver Concentrate in it. It can last up to 5 years max.

Water is hardly ever just pure water. It always has really small amounts of bacteria and other stuff in it. Thats why its not safe to drink tap water.

Here is a good one to get:

www.safetomorrow.com...

For what it's worth...

In the early days of my preparedness, circa 1994, I bought some things called Aqua Blox, they were small (about 8oz.) boxes that looked like juice boxes that children pack with school lunches. The expiration dates on them were in 2000 or 2001, I don't recall.

Anyhow...

Just a few months ago I unearthed a few I had somehow missed over the years. These were sturdily-packed, USCG-approved containers. I opened each one and while the water appeared clear when poured into a glass, the inside of each container smelled musty and the water tasted unbearable.

Erring on the side of health, I only had one sip before dumping it all out.

Originally posted by SpaceCalamari
I was under the impression that water will last for just about ever as long as it doesnt evaporate.

If you find stuff growing it it, you just need to filter it, boil it off and you're ready to go.

You can store it in anything as well, althought i think there has been some research suggesting that over time the chemicals used in the production of plastic bottles may eventually break down into the water and cause all sorts of interesting and possibly unpleasant side-effects.

This is due to water having a slightly acidic ph level. If you let water sit long enough even the pureified kind, even if it is properly sealed it can also go stale.

water purification tablets are a good idea, provided that you have a sorce of water to begin with. failing that if you filter it and boil it your good to go.

We have some water barrels in the basement. They are big blue plastic containers. We change the water out every six months or so because the water can go stale.

These were once 3 liter soda bottles, that were cleaned out with soap and resealed after refilling them.

Originally posted by bergle
There is a reusable,and reasonably cheap drinking straw that purifys water as you suck it up.....itfilters even viruses of most types too.
They are going to be a great boon to the third world......check em out...

could you post a thread to this strawl filter?