How Long Can You Store Bottled Water (And Why)?

Exact Answer: One to Two Weeks

Bottled water is insurance against the purity of the available water or even its availability in the first place. It helps a person to have pure water at any time and at any place.

It was certainly a genius person’s marketing idea to package, brand and put a price tag on an item that is among one of the most readily available items in the world. Although water is easily accessible around the globe, yet in some places, the struggle for this basic necessity is real. The invention of the idea of bottled water helped to allay the fears of travelers going to those places.

How Long Can You Store Bottled Water?

Storage of Water	Good for Use Period
Unopened Water
A. Non-carbonated water	Two years
B. Sparkling water	Six months to A year
Opened Bottle
A. Non-carbonated water	Three to four weeks
B. Sparkling water	A week or two

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Bottled water as is available in the market can be divided into two major categories, non-carbonated water, and carbonated water. The carbonated water contains carbon dioxide gas under pressure. Moreover, the bottled water stored on the kitchen shelf can be either sealed or unsealed.

The United States Food and Drug Administration is the central authority in the country which regulates the bottled water industry. The USFDA does not ask for the shelf life of those bottled water. This implies that if the bottled water is stored properly away from heat, it can last for an indefinite period of time.

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However, bottled water is not really expected to last indefinitely. A sealed and unopened bottled water that is non-carbonated can last for about nearly two years. In contrast to this, sparkling water can last between six months to a year, if the seal of the bottled water is unopened.

On the other hand, once the seal is broken, the shelf life of the bottled water decreases. An unsealed pack of bottled water is fit to drink for three to four weeks or roughly a month after breaking its seal, while the sparkling water can only last for a period of about a week or two, once the seal of the bottle is broken.

Why Can You Store Bottled Water For So Long?

According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, bottled water does not expire on its own. However, any damage to the quality of the water is most likely to be caused by the bottle it is stored in. The chemicals of the plastic bottle can lead to deterioration of water, which when consumed can cause serious health problems.

Most plastic water bottles are made from either High-Density Polyethylene or Polyethylene Terephthalate. These water bottles are sensitive to heat and high temperatures and upon being exposed to heat, the bottle can let and its chemicals may get dissolved in the drinking water. In such cases, the drinking water becomes unfit to consume and risks health issues. Thus, it is advisable to store bottled water in cool and away from light.

In addition to that, the taste of bottled water changes over time and does not remain the same throughout. Even sealed and unopened packaged water bottles have a small amount of water in them. When the water in these bottles mixes with the air, over a long stretch of the period, its taste changes considerably. Although the change in taste of bottled water is not really a health issue, it is avoidable due to its unpleasant taste.

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Conclusion

When bottled water is sealed and non-carbonated, it can last for nearly two years and when the same unsealed bottled water is of sparkling water, it can last for between half a year to a year. However, when the same bottle of non-carbonated water is unsealed, it can last for only a month and the unsealed sparkling water for a week.

Bottled water is subject to continuous contact with the air in the bottle. This air makes the taste of the water significantly different and unpleasant than one would expect. Moreover, if not stored properly, the chemicals in the plastic bottle can further deteriorate the quality of water.