Formula made up with water supply from private spring - is it safe?

[siobhana]

We are going to stay with my PIL soon with our 12 week old baby. Their water supply is from a private spring (they live way out in the country) and they use it for making tea/ coffee etc but otherwise drink bottled water. I don't fancy making up my baby's feeds with it. Or am I being over-cautious? And is it ok to use bottled/mineral water to make up feeds? Advice would be appreciated!

You will be boiling the water anyway so I doubt that it matters but you could check with the formula milk helpline ('phone number on the packaging).

you could take ready mixed formula for the trip

also, don;t think mineral water is suitable for babies.. some bottled water is though

if you boil water it should be fine

Just out of interest why is mineral water not suitable? I've never used it but always wondered.

I don't think anyone can be totally confident about the safety of this water - what salts are in it, what minerals are in it, would boiling concentrate these to a harmful level for baby (though safe for adults)?

I think it would make sense to use ready-to-feed.

gegs, mineral water (some brands of it) may have high levels of salts.

if you boil the water it should be fine. I take it that it will be for a short time.

do you know the source of the spring? IE is it from a spring fed by an aquifer or is it one from surface runoff say in the Scottish Highlands.

some people with their own springwater have had it analysed for mineral content, ph, etc. Has your PIL done this?

Thanks tiktok didn't know that.

kiskidee, how can you be sure it's ok as long as it is boiled?? Boiling any water may kill bugs, but it concentrates some 'ingredients'...this might not be a good thing.

from my (limited understanding) of chemistry, it depends on the type of spring water she will be using. surface water (largely rain) has a low ph, therefore not much salts so should be safe.

aquifer water may have a higher ph, indicating hardness hence questions about what kind of springwater

i guess i should have said, it 'could' rather than 'should' be ok.

Wow... you guys are good! Don't know what the source of the water is (they do live in 'the hills' so could be surface runoff...) i never realised how much there was to know on the subject! I will ask them about it. I imagine we will be taking lots of ready-mixed formula with us as wouldn't like to chance it. I am gutted that the breastfeeding didn't work out, we wouldn't have to consider such things never mind. Anyway, thank you everyone for the help!

We fed our baby from our own private supply straight off the fell but I always boiled his water for 5 mins first. The older dc just had it straight out the tap. We did have a chlorination system but never used it. The danger is mainly cattle dying and contaminating the supply. If you've used the water for a while you build up resistance but obv. a tiny baby won't be able to so I'd say use but boil for 5 as I did when I lived in the fells.