Refilling bottled water bottles. Is it safe?

A. Hi,

I watched the report on NBC about refilling water bottles. Apparently, refilling water bottles that are intended for a single use can breed bacteria, which could cause the water to be undrinkable.

Kate Minor
- Brick, New Jersey
2003

A. A friend of mine, a traveling salesman, kept a gallon of water in his trunk. He would rinse it out and refill it with tap water just before a trip. Once, he had to abort his trip on the second day, and on the next trip he was hospitalized. Refilling a bottle 2-3 times will very probably not cause a problem for most folks, but for 2-3 weeks could be inviting a big problem for some. Judgement.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2003

---

I fill my water bottle (originally bottled water) every time I go to the gym with tap water and am still here though am surprisingly resistant to paying for any more bottled water (must contain scrooge bacteria).

Unless the water has been disinfected most (I can't say all because I don't know) bottled water will contain bacteria, though what's the point of buying disinfected water in a bottle if you've convinced yourself that bottled water is more "natural".

As you've all been filling your water bottles from the cooler and I take it you're all alright so far seems to me you've carried out a pretty good trial already.

It may be that filling your water bottles under the test conditions increases the bacteria levels, over unopened water, but what type of bacteria? How long is the gestation period? If you leave your bottled water for long enough in a warm place, I bet the bacteria count will go up. It would be interesting to see who funded the study (bottled water manufacturers perhaps or am I too cynical)

I'm off to fill my water bottle with tap water again.

Regards,

Richard Guise
- Lowestoft, U.K.
2003

The trick to keeping the water fresh is to make certain that you have 3 iridium copper rice pulling coins placed around your coaster (you do use coasters, don't you?) in a perfect isosceles triangle. Its the only sure fire way to keep the water clean for days on end ;-)

Tom Baker
wastewater treatment specialist - Warminster, Pennsylvania
2003

A. I watched some other show or news, which I do not recall, where this subject was discussed. My understanding is that chlorinated water was safer for refill than non-chlorinated. So here may be the answer why tap water drinkers have not faced a problem. However, that does not mean bacteria do not build up, they just grow slower. If you refill with natural water which is the habit of natural water drinkers, it could become a problem.

Mandar Sunthankar
- Fort Collins, Colorado
2003

A. As I think of the amount of bacteria we digest daily by means of drinking tap water and eating fresh food (like vegetables and fruit) it seems to me that there is little harm in drinking water from refilled water bottles. I do so on a daily basis where I work (refilling it 2-3 times a day with 0.5 l tapwater) and also I keep a refilled bottle in my car which I only use once or twice weekly (I refill it approx. once a week with 0.5 l tapwater). I do agree though that there can be a buildup of bacteria, depending on the temperature at which it is kept. Remember that the more hygienic we try to live, the more susceptible we get to diseases.

Best regards,

Rene Harmsen
- Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2003

---

Oh dear, oh dear! I AM worried! My time is up! Why didn't I get infected 2 or 3 years ago? My awful habit was, thrice a week, to fill up a small bottle with Root Beer (Sarsparilla to you U.K, guys who don't know what a nice drink this is).

Did I wash that bottle out? Hardly. Just a rinse from the tap ... which harbours harmful bacteria, of course. Mind you, that little bottle had initially an inch or so of root beer poured in and then frozen so that, during table tennis, my drink would be good and cold. Now I've been doing this for YEARS!

But, like Richard Guise, I, too, suffer from that incurable scrooge disease as it's far cheaper to fill up the small bottle from a big one than buy a nice, new bottle every time.

And tap water quality can vary. Also people breed an immunity to bacteria. Hence the warnings to tourists about Montezuma's Revenge when drinking tap water in many parts of Mexico!

Freeman Newton [deceased]
(It is our sad duty to advise that Freeman passed away
April 21, 2012. R.I.P. old friend).
2003

A. I suspect the problem is that continued refills of ANY water, without washing out/sanitizing the bottle between refills could potentially breed bacteria. Each time you drink out of the bottle, bacteria, germs, etc from your mouth flow in and out of the bottle. It's likely that much of this grows, mutates or whatever in the bottle unless the bottle is emptied and sanitized between refills. Therefore, the longer you drink refilled bottled water without sanitizing the bottle, the more likely you are to catch some nasty bugs. My theory.

Steve Hendrix
- Marietta, Georgia
2003