How long does bottled water last?

[Pegase]

I bought some at the beginning of the year - big 5l bottles and stored it in the shed. Unfortunately the shed does change temp as has big windows along the side. Is it any good to use? Should I just use for the garden and start over?

Do they not have a use by date

Probably only until October 30th. Best go out & waste some more money I'd say.

As usual useless comments. Posted in this board rather than AIBU or Chat for a reason - to hear from people who use this board not randoms looking to pick a fight.

Excuse me, what was wrong with my comment? Water normally has dates on it. Bit of a waste of plastic to dump it though

Date isn't my concern- am more concerned that I may have inadvertently stored it in less than optimal conditions which may have had an effect as it is just in standard clear supermarket bottles rather than barrels or anything like that.

Plus totally agree about not wasting plastic. Could definitely refill from tap

Just wondered why you were stocking up on bottled water in the first place. It is one of the most freely available commodities. You just turn on your tap & out it comes.

I always like to have 2 x 5L bottles in the house.

There was a burst pipe recently that took just under 24hrs to fix.

We were able to carry on as normal, eating, drinking, feeding our animals etc without having to go running to a supermarket with loads of other people.

I find it very comforting to know we have water available if the taps go off.

If it hasn't been opened it's fine. Once you open it you need to make sure nothing gets in the bottle or it can get contaminated. Tap water has residual chlorine to prevent that happening but bottled water doesn't.

Presuming you’re not in the UK?

Why Would you presume that night?

I live in London where last year several of my colleagues were without water for a few days due to a problem with Thames Water and had to stay elsewhere or go and queue for water that was being handed out so to be honest where you live is irrelevant.

Thank you @VeniVidiVoxi - it has not been opened but has just changed temperature (not frozen or boiled clearly!)

@bellinisurge any further advice welcome she says hopefully

Well I also don’t see why you but bottled water, however you are not meant to drink liquids that have gotten warm from plastic bottles over a long period as research shows it increases the risk of cancer.

@Pegase Hi. I'd probably boil up the water first before drinking. Hard rolling boil for a minute. Let cool.

That said, I have a few much older kept in our garage. They rarely get any light and are off the concrete floor. I'd intend to use them as is.

I have a water butt that collects rainwater.

I’m amazed at the comments from people assuming water will always be available - burst pipes, broken pumps etc happen all the time and leave people without water for anything from a few hours to several days... A quick look at your water company’s Twitter feed will show how often it happens ( and the outraged comments from members of the public who clearly haven’t prepared ). Having a few bottles of water handy is eminently sensible to save the ballache of suddenly not having water halfway through cooking/just as you’ve shampooed your hair etc.

Recently my mums water got turned off without any notice as the utilities company were dealing with a burst pipe. She was in the middle of cooking and my sister was shampooing her hair. They keep a crate of bottled water in the house so could carry on fine but it was off for 4 hours. It can be an issue if you have little kids, are old and infirm. There is no harm in picking up a few bottles for use in an emergency. I would store in the garage but off the floor and I second boiling the water if using for drinking .

I bought some glass bottles from Ikea for £1 each to store bottled water in.

I meant tap water 🤦‍♀️

I think in future perhaps you need better containers (not plastic) and to just fill up with tap water?

The thing about bought bottled water which I learned from a documentary recently (rather than filled from t he tap) is the water hasn't been treated like tap water so it is ok until you open it but then you have to be carful with it as for instance drinking from the bottle etc can introduce bacteria but as it is untreated there's nothing to stop it multiplying.

Basically if you are going to use bought bottled water then be careful how you use it if it is big bottles.

Ideally going forward you should store water in a dark, cool place (like pretty much everything else).
Over time traces of the components the plastics the bottle is made from can leach into the water which is why they have a use by/best before date on them (can't remember which off the top of my head.)
You could still drink it, but it might have a slightly chemical sort of taste.

For this reason, once it has got to that date, it is advisable to use the water in the garden or as grey water then refill the bottles from the tap - replacing every six months.

If you have an outdoors shop or army and navy near you, you could always pick up some water treatment tablets, just in case.