How Long Does Bottled Water Last (And Why)?

Exact Answer: Forever

It gets difficult to find good and safe drinking water everywhere you go. Moreover, water being a major necessity that everyone needs at some of the other time, it becomes difficult to carry huge water bottles with you.

Thus, bottled water is a very efficient and easy way to get access to safe drinking water. Found in almost every big and small local store, you can find this bottled water whenever you need them. 

Several companies offer bottled water at good and reasonable prices like Bisleri, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Parle. Australia, India, Europe, and Newzealand are among the top countries which lead in the sales of bottled water.

How Long Does Bottled Water Last?

However, bottled water is not just about normal safe drinking water. Bottled water is of many different types. Though normal water can last for unlimited time, other types of bottled water may go bad after some time.

Some of the types of bottled water are sparkling bottled water, spring bottled water, mineral bottled water, distilled bottled water, etc.

Carbonated bottled water or also known as club soda or sparkling water contains carbonated salts and carbon dioxide gas which give water a fizz. Carbonated bottled water lasts for 2 days once the bottle is opened.

Spring bottled water contains water collected naturally from either ground surface or water bodies like lakes and sea. Springwater is completely safe to drink and contains numerous minerals which are good for health. Spring bottled water can last forever just like other normal bottled water.

Mineral bottled water contains water having extra added minerals and gases. This water has a high content of calcium carbonate, magnesium sulfate, potassium, and sodium sulfate. Mineral bottled water can last up to 4 to 5 years after the bottle is opened.

Distilled bottled water is water that contains no salts and minerals. This water is prepared by the process of boiling normal water, changing it to water vapors, and then convert those vapors back into the water. In this way, all the salts and minerals get vaporized and only the water gets condensed back. Distilled bottled water can last from 9 months to 1 year once the bottle is opened.

Here is a summary of types of bottled water and how long they last once the bottle is opened:

Why Does Bottled Water Last That Long?

Water has no expiry date, so does bottled water. You can buy bottled water and use it any day or even years after it. The reason behind that is because bottled water is completely sealed and thus there is no chance of bottled water being exposed to the outside atmosphere. Therefore, with no such exposure, the bottled water does not react with anything and is completely safe inside a sealed bottle which ultimately makes it long for infinite time.

Moreover, talking about carbonated or sparkling bottled water, it can go bad in a time of as short as 2 days because it contains gases, mainly, carbon dioxide gas. Once the bottle is opened, the gas escapes out of the bottle thus resulting in making the carbonated bottled water go bad within just 1 to 2 days.

Whereas, distilled water has no minerals or gases added to it. However, once the bottle is opened, the mineral water reacts with the atmosphere and the atmospheric particles, and bacteria. This results in adding minerals and salts into the water, thus making it worse in a span of 9 months to a year.

Conclusion

Bottled water never goes bad and is completely healthy. Such bottled water is normally regulated and tested by the food and drug administration, Bureau of Indian Standards, Food Standards Code, Industry reform, and other such organizations. Moreover, the expiry date you see on bottled water bottles is for the bottle and not for the water. You can have bottled water at any time without worrying about if it’s bad or not. However, the plastic crisis is here, so it is recommended not to rely much on plastic bottled water.

References

1. https://bioone.org/journals/AMBIO-A-Journal-of-the-Human-Environment/volume-30/issue-2/0044-7447-30.2.118/Bottled-Water-Understanding-a-Social-Phenomenon/10.1579/0044-7447-30.2.118.full
2. https://iwaponline.com/jwh/article-abstract/4/2/271/1581