Water going bad

[navyseal2101]

If I have water in a jug, how long would it take to go bad (stagnent) in a 65 degree environment?

 

[nikko49]

i have no idea what you mean by 'go bad', but i usually don't drink water in my room after it's been sitting there for 2 days.

 

[navyseal2101]

by go bad i mean with bacteria and such, b/c its not running.

 

[Road Demon]

Well...I have few comments.

Most muncipal water is chlorinated, so if you used a clean jug (like one that was rinsed clean with a few drop of household bleach) and put the water directly from the tap in the jug and cap it, I assume it would be good for days to weeks. Capping it would preserve the chlorine in solution.

fyi: 65 F is well below the optimal temp for most organisms that cause disease.

Now if your finger or lips touched the top of the jug, or used a jug you previously drank out of then you have likely inculated the jug with several million microbes. I say in a few days you will get some growth, likely due to a 'slime bacteria' or fungi something similar. It is unlikely that it organisms that will actually cause disease will be around, as most disease causing microbes are out competed by normal environmental bacteria, fungi, and strepomycetes.

now take a unopened poland springs bottle, put in on warm windowsill in sun, come back in a week. You will be suprised what little 'freinds' are floating in the water. Are they harmful, unlikely.

Google: 'environmental microbiology wiki' and you will see what I mean.

Stuff like Aquafina that is muncipal water that undergoes further purfication (reverse osmosis) I would not hestiate to leave in a hot trunk of car in the summer for a few weeks.

Bottom line, small organism (microbes) are everywhere, but 99.9% don't really cause disease. The ones we mostly study in medicine are the ones that cause human disease in otherwise healthy individuals. Most 'microbes' actually help us! They are essential to most natural ecosystems.

I hope that helps.

RD

 

[Axcell]

I am assuming it's 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Anyway - I personally don't leave water in jugs (plastic) for longer than 5-6 hours because than the water starts to taste a bit stale/off and looses its fresh taste.
I have no idea where you are from, but just to be safe, I would just spill out the water in your jug and drink new tap water.. not a big deal.

 

[kickureface]

wtf? WATER IS WATER