why does water expire?

what happens to bottled water after its been sitting on the shelf too long?


Chief’s Domain - http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi

Well, when they found the Lady B Good in North Africa (Libya?) in the mid 1960’s, the discovery team had a shortfall of water and used canteens they found in the B-24 with no ill effects.

Whether Perrier or Evian have spiked their drinks with delayed action bugs, I don’t know. (I tend to doubt it, of course.)


Tom~

Once past the expiration date, bottled water becomes “heavy” water and gets shipped off to a nuclear power plant for use in the manufacture of H-bombs. Yes, amazingly enough, the raw material for nuclear destruction is sitting in the cooler at your local 7-11!

As responsible Americans, we must do something about this secretive plot by the United States government. One solution would be to buy all the bottled water in your local convenience store to keep it out of the government’s hands. It is a dangerous job, but think of all the poor children you will save from being incinerated in the heat of a nuclear fireball!

Remember, do NOT drink the water once you’ve bought it! Seal it in lead containers and bury it in your backyard. If we get enough people to do this, perhaps we can put an end to the nuclear arms race once and for all!

Or at the least, we’ll have struck the Vegans a grievous blow.
– Sylence

<font size=-1>Warning: Any attempt to take the above post seriously may result in an “X-files” episode. You have been warned.</font>


And now, for my next trick, I will talk in spooky half-references.

It gets sent back to the manufacturer to have a new date stamped on.

If the water is in a plastic bottle, eventually the plastic will leach into the water. Or maybe “leach” isn’t the correct term, but it will contaminate the water. Of course, we’re talking about years, like someone stocking a survival kit and leaving it as is for a decade.


Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green

OMG! and all this time I just thought it evaporated!


“Only when he no longer knows what he is doing, does the painter do good
things.” --Edgar Degas

Bottled water has more bacteria than the water you get from the kitchen sink faucet. That water is always traveling. Bottled water just sits there & the bacteria multiply.
Eventually they suggest you throw the water out & thats the date.

If you can get a look at the water quality report you can find out how much e. coli it has. That multiplies in the bottle, yuck.

I would venture to say that it’s also because the oxygen in the water slowly leaks out, giving the water sort of a “flat” taste.

You don’t have to toss it, just boil it.

Of course, suggestions on how to handle “stale” water beg the question of why one would buy water to begin with. Aside from folks who live with extremely high sulphur or other mineral content, why would anyone spend as much money on 16 oz. of stuff as they are already giving to the water department or the electric company for several gallons of the stuff?


Tom~