# OK, what about day old, unrefrigerated water? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 9, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022 "2010-11-09T12:35:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/21 "2010-11-09T19:14:56Z")
I’ve been drinking out of the same Dasani bottle for months, and I feel okay. Also, I let my work coffee cup sit over the weekend with coagulating creamer in it, then wash it with cold water and hand soap in the restroom. _Looks_ clean… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/22 "2010-11-09T19:24:58Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I don’t think we’re talking about taking out a clean glass, filling it with water, and leaving it overnight. I think we’re talking about a container that you’ve already drunk some of the water out of, which means it’s got some bits of backwash, skin cells, whatever. Man, if you’re losing enough detritus out of your mouth in backwash to support significant bacterial growth, you’ve got much more serious problems than drinking day-old water.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/23 "2010-11-09T19:48:13Z")
The more I read the Dope, the more I become convinced that germophobia has reached pandemic proportions. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/24 "2010-11-09T19:53:45Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Not me. I mix my own fresh every day: two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. Tastes way better this way. Don’t the massive explosions perturb your neighbors? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/25 "2010-11-09T19:56:53Z")
It _is_ true, though, that water left out can go bad! I was in a situation where i needed to boil drinking water in large batches, and kept it in a closed metal water filter with a spigot. Usually I’d got through the batch in 3-4 days. If it went much longer than that, though, it would start to feel thick and eventually develop strands of bacterial growth. Unsweetened ice tea will do the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/26 "2010-11-09T19:59:40Z")
> [@leaffan](#): > > Not me. I mix my own fresh every day: two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. Tastes way better this way. > [@Absolute](#): > > Don’t the massive explosions perturb your neighbors? Don’t be silly: it’s all done inside a fuel cell… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/27 "2010-11-09T20:31:27Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’ve been drinking out of the same Dasani bottle for months, and I feel okay. Jesus! How big is that bottle? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/28 "2010-11-09T21:12:49Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > The more I read the Dope, the more I become convinced that germophobia has reached pandemic proportions. The germophobe-causing bacteria has been thriving on toilet seats and unwashed bathroom doorknobs. We need more Clorox products. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/29 "2010-11-09T21:29:29Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’ve been drinking out of the same Dasani bottle for months, and I feel okay. Me too. _Looks at Dasani bottle_ _Looks at **Dung Beetle** _ _Looks at Dasani bottle_ _Looks at **Dung Beetle** _ _Looks at Dasani bottle_ _Looks at **Dung Beetle** _ HEY! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/30 "2010-11-09T21:32:02Z")
Too late now! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/31 "2010-11-09T21:44:11Z")
Looks like I’m gonna need a new bottle. And I’m locking it in my desk! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/32 "2010-11-10T00:13:47Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Could the OP please come back and reassure me that this thread was a giant whoosh? It seems to be getting a worrying number of serious replies. Unrefrigerated water? Rather that than refrigerated water that has the stale-milk refrigerator taste to it. If you keep water in the fridge, keep it covered! ETA: actually water is about the only drink I prefer at refrigerator temperature or colder, everything else I’d prefer a few degrees warmer. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/33 "2010-11-10T02:55:32Z")
My mom actually gets concerned about the unfinished water bottles in her room. The only reason I care is that I don’t like drinking after other people if I know they’ve been sick. And we all tend to leave water bottles around. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/34 "2010-11-10T02:59:16Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Not me. I mix my own fresh every day: two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. Tastes way better this way. 2 hydrogen? All that fully saturated stuff might not be good for you, ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/35 "2010-11-10T03:29:43Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Jesus! How big is that bottle? The secret, I’m told, is to take really small sips. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/36 "2010-11-11T14:02:49Z")
I have a water bottle that sits on my desk at all times with varying levels of water in it. I refill it out of the water filter tap in the lunchroom when it gets low or empty without washing it. Every month or so it’ll start to smell musty so I’ll scrub it out with the scrubby dealy in the lunchroom and rinse, then it’s fine for another month or so. There was one time I’d left the lid screwed on but it was damp and empty, and it looked like things were growing in it so I scrubbed it really well then, but that’s the only time I’ve really been concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/37 "2010-11-11T14:23:20Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Rather that than refrigerated water that has the stale-milk refrigerator taste to it. If you keep water in the fridge, keep it covered! > > ETA: actually water is about the only drink I prefer at refrigerator temperature or colder, everything else I’d prefer a few degrees warmer. I think you misunderstand me. I was expressing disbelief at the twin notions that (a) water needs to be kept refrigerated, and (b) if not refrigerated, it will somehow “go off”. That water has likely been hanging around the planet for aeons, it’s not suddenly going to turn into toxic waste beacuse you leave it in a plastic bottle overnight. :rolleyes: I don’t really like to drink anything at refrigerator temperature, apart from lager. Cold drinks hurt my teeth. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/38 "2010-11-11T14:33:10Z")
This past summer I went kayaking after work one afternoon. After taking a long pull of water from my camelbak, I realized that it was tepid. I normally fill it with ice and water and it stays cold for hours. Turns out I was drinking water left over from a week prior. Didn’t stop me from finishing it. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/39 "2010-11-11T16:30:55Z")
You know we don’t refrigerate the water before it gets to you, right? Presuming you’re on city water and not your own well. In the winter, I only fill the water tower about every other day. And it’s not a closed pressure tank; a water tower is open to atmospheric pressure. So it’s essentially sitting out. That’s why we chlorinate it. And yes, chlorine does degrade or evaporate, but I can run the pumps on Monday and still have chlorine in the system on Wednesday. And at a level below which most people can’t taste it. So it doesn’t matter if it also sits out on your nightstand. After a few days, the chlorine will probably dissipate from your drinking glass, but there just aren’t a whole lot of airborne pathogens floating around in most people’s air, chronic hoarders excluded. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022/40 "2010-11-11T16:33:56Z")
I’ve been using a stainless steel water bottle during the week, haven’t seen anything funky growing on it. I just empty and rinse it each day, and wash it once a week. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-about-day-old-unrefrigerated-water/560022.md?page=3)