7 ms·

Why Does Tap Water Go Stale Overnight?

50 points by LukeB_UK 11y ago

smoyer 11y ago
I live in an area where water is drawn from aquifers within limestone deposits - I actually like the "taste" of hard water over soft, but when I leave a glass of water out for the night, I might also see flecks of calcium precipitant.
TillE 11y ago
The article touches very briefly on many possible explanations without ever coming to a conclusion. But I'm fairly certain it's the one they mention towards the end: the evaporation of oxygen and the development of carbonic acid. That's why putting water in a closed bottle slows down the process.
- jules 11y ago
  What about tiny dust particles getting caught in the water?
- dalke 11y ago
  I've not noticed 'stale' water, so I'm a bit confused about the topic. If what you say is true, shouldn't places which use lake water, or places with a cistern, have the same stale taste to their water? Or those who melt snow for drinking water?
  - pixl97 11y ago
    You don't drink lake water without further processing... Or at least you shouldn't if you want your insides to remain that way. Well water has an enormous range of taste, wholly dependent on a number of factors, including the soil/rock type that the well is sourced from.
    - dalke 11y ago
      While it's certainly possible to get water borne illnesses, the likelihood of that happening is low. Otherwise humanity would have died out long ago. Quoting from http://bwca.cc/tripplanning/waterfiltration.htm http://bwca.cc/tripplanning/waterfiltration.htm : > Thirty years ago, we didn't fret about lake-water microbes. We just drank the water straight or spiked it with iodine. Today, that is changed. Many of us grip our water filters and cautiously take a sip. In fact, Giardia and other water-borne pathogens often star in those scary mind-flicks we conjure from bears, bugs, and huge, wind-swept waves. > Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that six months of recurring diarrhea isn't something to ponder. Just don't panic if you swallow a mouthful of lake water. The Boundary Waters isn't a New York sewer. Much of the water is clean. The problem is, we can't distinguish the clean sources from the dirty ones. > That's why I filter, boil, or chemically disinfect the water I use for drinking, washing dishes, and brushing my teeth. On the other hand, canoe-country author Michael Furtman has roamed the Boundary Waters for nearly 40 years, and hasn't treated a drop and has never been sick. He's not alone. Quite a few Boundary Waters old-timers and wilderness guides drink the water. But they are careful about where they collect it. In any case, my water filter for camping is only a ceramic filter. It doesn't change the oxygen or CO2 levels. If TillE's proposal is correct, the output after filtering should still be 'stale'. What you said about well water is true, but my examples were structured to avoid ground contamination. If you collect rainwater, and let it sit for a day, does it taste 'stale'?
- im3w1l 11y ago
  But carbonated water tastes good.
  - reagency 11y ago
    "Carbonated water" is an acid-base mixture, with more than one part of the mixture had "carbon" in it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water Just adding acid won't give you the pleasant taste. Also, humans ofte dislike trace flavors, even when they like the flavor : it subconsciously tastes "dirty".
    - coroxout 11y ago
      'Also, humans ofte dislike trace flavors, even when they like the flavor : it subconsciously tastes "dirty".' Interesting. This makes a lot of sense to me. I sometimes dilute fruit-flavoured soft drinks to reduce the calorie load, but there's definitely a point when they're mostly water where they suddenly become slightly unpleasant. Like, say up to 90% dilute is fine-to-nothingy, and 100% water is of course fine, but 95% dilute is worse than either. (See also reusing a soft drink bottle for water without rinsing it first.)
- ac29 11y ago
  My conclusion: warm, de-gassed water, like warm, de-gasssed beer, doesn't taste too good.
- coroxout 11y ago
  "The article touches very briefly on many possible explanations without ever coming to a conclusion." Agreed, which makes the "...and now you know the chemistry of why" closer all the more infuriating. I also agree that the evaporation/infusion of gases seems a likely explanation, because I've noticed that if I leave the fan on overnight near my glass of drinking water it starts to taste unpalatably stale a lot quicker. At least, it does to me.
euroclydon 11y ago
Most faucets have aerators. Flat water has a distinctly different texture that aerated. For instance, if you're really thirsty, you can chug distilled water (which seems to have much less dissolved gases) rapidly, but spring water will not go down as smoothly.
- ac29 11y ago
  Scientist note: Do not drink distilled water, at least not as a significant portion of your water intake. Water contains clinically relevant amounts of minerals that are important for health [1]. Fortunately, most "distilled water" sold as drinking water actually has these minerals added back in. On a related note, really dont drink deionized water (you can think of it as ultra distilled, also the process does not necessarily involve distillation). Aside from tasting extremely nasty (dont ask), sufficient quantities are extremely dangerous. Fortunately it is expensive and generally only available in labs. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1495189/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1495189/
  - mrob 11y ago
    Water can contain clinically relevant quantities of minerals, but as the article you linked states it is secondary to food. Some regions have naturally very soft waters (famously Pilsen, Czech Republic, where it is an important part of Pilsener beer). Those waters don't have clinically relevant mineral content, but people there don't have mineral deficiencies unless their diet is also mineral deficient. I've heard your claim that drinking ultra-pure water is dangerous many times before, but I've never seen any citation from a reputable journal. It seems highly implausible to me, as the ultra-pure water will cease to be ultra-pure immediately as it hits your stomach. In general it's very difficult to keep ultra-pure water pure.
  - rahimnathwani 11y ago
    You say that most 'distilled water' sold as drinking water has minerals added back in. Where do you get this information? I live in China, where tap water is not considered safe to drink, and bottled (or boiled) water is the norm. In my experience, most brands of drinking water do not contain minerals. One of the premium brands (Watson's) actually has a separate 'with minerals' version, with a blue label instead of their normal green label. Oh, and I've tested several brands of water with a portable TDS meter, and all registered between 0% to 5% of the values yielded from tap water at my home and my office.
CarVac 11y ago
I leave tap water in a carafe in my refrigerator overnight before drinking it, and even that tastes dramatically different when warm than when fresh out of the fridge.
reubenmorais 11y ago
Solution: start mountain biking. You'll be drinking warm, dirty, old water from old bottles and finding it delicious in no time.
nextos 11y ago
Incidental question, but does anyone filter tap water? If so, using what technology? My area has decent water, but there are some issues. I tried bottled mineral water, which I found quite inconvenient and expensive. It's probably very harmful to the environment too.
- foldor 11y ago
  I filter mine just to remove some of the taste the pipes add. I'm not sure if you're looking for something fancy, but I use a basic Brita water filter. The best thing to make water taste better thought is to chill it in the fridge though.
- ac29 11y ago
  Charcoal based filters, like brita, or the ones built into higher end refrigerators are cheap and effective. I've used them for years, though the effect on taste might be a placebo, and the water in our area certainly isnt unsafe. Of course, it depends what "issues" your local water has.
  - nextos 11y ago
    Well, there are always traces from some heavy metals and excess of chlorine for example. I was thinking about a gravity or a reverse osmosis filter. Surprisingly some studies I've seen came up with very good figures in case of rather simple gravity filters.
    - ac29 11y ago
      According to Brita they remove chlorine and cadmium (a heavy metal), amount other things. [1] As near as I can tell, "gravity filters" work on the same priciple as Brita filters [2]. [1] https://www.brita.com/why-brita/what-we-filter/ https://www.brita.com/why-brita/what-we-filter/ [2] http://www.phoenixwaterfilter.com.au/images/stories/phoenix/Gravity_2.jpg http://www.phoenixwaterfilter.com.au/images/stories/phoenix/... P.S. I have never worked for Brita and havent used their products in years, so please dont take my comments as shilling.
  - 11y ago
rorykoehler 11y ago
The water in Berlin tastes better after sitting for some time.
rancur 11y ago
mine doesn't at all. ever. in fact i had some in a bottle behind my monitor for a year and it was fine
daily_dose_420 11y ago
wired.com, being as irrelevant as possible for pseudo intellectual sub 100 IQ macbook hipsters.
yousifa 11y ago
Tap water also contains chlorine or chloramine which evaporates fairly quickly (chlorine much quicker). That may affect the taste directly or indirectly by allowing other bacteria to grow in the water.
- yousifa 11y ago
  + water quality can change fairly quickly (eg. overnight) source: im a founder of water quality monitoring company

50 points by LukeB_UK 11y ago

I live in an area where water is drawn from aquifers within limestone deposits - I actually like the "taste" of hard water over soft, but when I leave a glass of water out for the night, I might also see flecks of calcium precipitant.

TillE 11y ago

The article touches very briefly on many possible explanations without ever coming to a conclusion. But I'm fairly certain it's the one they mention towards the end: the evaporation of oxygen and the development of carbonic acid. That's why putting water in a closed bottle slows down the process.

jules 11y ago
What about tiny dust particles getting caught in the water?
dalke 11y ago
I've not noticed 'stale' water, so I'm a bit confused about the topic. If what you say is true, shouldn't places which use lake water, or places with a cistern, have the same stale taste to their water? Or those who melt snow for drinking water?
- pixl97 11y ago
  You don't drink lake water without further processing... Or at least you shouldn't if you want your insides to remain that way. Well water has an enormous range of taste, wholly dependent on a number of factors, including the soil/rock type that the well is sourced from.
  - dalke 11y ago
    While it's certainly possible to get water borne illnesses, the likelihood of that happening is low. Otherwise humanity would have died out long ago. Quoting from http://bwca.cc/tripplanning/waterfiltration.htm http://bwca.cc/tripplanning/waterfiltration.htm : > Thirty years ago, we didn't fret about lake-water microbes. We just drank the water straight or spiked it with iodine. Today, that is changed. Many of us grip our water filters and cautiously take a sip. In fact, Giardia and other water-borne pathogens often star in those scary mind-flicks we conjure from bears, bugs, and huge, wind-swept waves. > Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that six months of recurring diarrhea isn't something to ponder. Just don't panic if you swallow a mouthful of lake water. The Boundary Waters isn't a New York sewer. Much of the water is clean. The problem is, we can't distinguish the clean sources from the dirty ones. > That's why I filter, boil, or chemically disinfect the water I use for drinking, washing dishes, and brushing my teeth. On the other hand, canoe-country author Michael Furtman has roamed the Boundary Waters for nearly 40 years, and hasn't treated a drop and has never been sick. He's not alone. Quite a few Boundary Waters old-timers and wilderness guides drink the water. But they are careful about where they collect it. In any case, my water filter for camping is only a ceramic filter. It doesn't change the oxygen or CO2 levels. If TillE's proposal is correct, the output after filtering should still be 'stale'. What you said about well water is true, but my examples were structured to avoid ground contamination. If you collect rainwater, and let it sit for a day, does it taste 'stale'?
im3w1l 11y ago
But carbonated water tastes good.
- reagency 11y ago
  "Carbonated water" is an acid-base mixture, with more than one part of the mixture had "carbon" in it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water Just adding acid won't give you the pleasant taste. Also, humans ofte dislike trace flavors, even when they like the flavor : it subconsciously tastes "dirty".
  - coroxout 11y ago
    'Also, humans ofte dislike trace flavors, even when they like the flavor : it subconsciously tastes "dirty".' Interesting. This makes a lot of sense to me. I sometimes dilute fruit-flavoured soft drinks to reduce the calorie load, but there's definitely a point when they're mostly water where they suddenly become slightly unpleasant. Like, say up to 90% dilute is fine-to-nothingy, and 100% water is of course fine, but 95% dilute is worse than either. (See also reusing a soft drink bottle for water without rinsing it first.)
ac29 11y ago
My conclusion: warm, de-gassed water, like warm, de-gasssed beer, doesn't taste too good.
coroxout 11y ago
"The article touches very briefly on many possible explanations without ever coming to a conclusion." Agreed, which makes the "...and now you know the chemistry of why" closer all the more infuriating. I also agree that the evaporation/infusion of gases seems a likely explanation, because I've noticed that if I leave the fan on overnight near my glass of drinking water it starts to taste unpalatably stale a lot quicker. At least, it does to me.

euroclydon 11y ago

Most faucets have aerators. Flat water has a distinctly different texture that aerated. For instance, if you're really thirsty, you can chug distilled water (which seems to have much less dissolved gases) rapidly, but spring water will not go down as smoothly.

ac29 11y ago
Scientist note: Do not drink distilled water, at least not as a significant portion of your water intake. Water contains clinically relevant amounts of minerals that are important for health [1]. Fortunately, most "distilled water" sold as drinking water actually has these minerals added back in. On a related note, really dont drink deionized water (you can think of it as ultra distilled, also the process does not necessarily involve distillation). Aside from tasting extremely nasty (dont ask), sufficient quantities are extremely dangerous. Fortunately it is expensive and generally only available in labs. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1495189/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1495189/
- mrob 11y ago
  Water can contain clinically relevant quantities of minerals, but as the article you linked states it is secondary to food. Some regions have naturally very soft waters (famously Pilsen, Czech Republic, where it is an important part of Pilsener beer). Those waters don't have clinically relevant mineral content, but people there don't have mineral deficiencies unless their diet is also mineral deficient. I've heard your claim that drinking ultra-pure water is dangerous many times before, but I've never seen any citation from a reputable journal. It seems highly implausible to me, as the ultra-pure water will cease to be ultra-pure immediately as it hits your stomach. In general it's very difficult to keep ultra-pure water pure.
- rahimnathwani 11y ago
  You say that most 'distilled water' sold as drinking water has minerals added back in. Where do you get this information? I live in China, where tap water is not considered safe to drink, and bottled (or boiled) water is the norm. In my experience, most brands of drinking water do not contain minerals. One of the premium brands (Watson's) actually has a separate 'with minerals' version, with a blue label instead of their normal green label. Oh, and I've tested several brands of water with a portable TDS meter, and all registered between 0% to 5% of the values yielded from tap water at my home and my office.

CarVac 11y ago

I leave tap water in a carafe in my refrigerator overnight before drinking it, and even that tastes dramatically different when warm than when fresh out of the fridge.

reubenmorais 11y ago

Solution: start mountain biking. You'll be drinking warm, dirty, old water from old bottles and finding it delicious in no time.

nextos 11y ago

Incidental question, but does anyone filter tap water? If so, using what technology? My area has decent water, but there are some issues. I tried bottled mineral water, which I found quite inconvenient and expensive. It's probably very harmful to the environment too.

foldor 11y ago
I filter mine just to remove some of the taste the pipes add. I'm not sure if you're looking for something fancy, but I use a basic Brita water filter. The best thing to make water taste better thought is to chill it in the fridge though.
ac29 11y ago
Charcoal based filters, like brita, or the ones built into higher end refrigerators are cheap and effective. I've used them for years, though the effect on taste might be a placebo, and the water in our area certainly isnt unsafe. Of course, it depends what "issues" your local water has.
- nextos 11y ago
  Well, there are always traces from some heavy metals and excess of chlorine for example. I was thinking about a gravity or a reverse osmosis filter. Surprisingly some studies I've seen came up with very good figures in case of rather simple gravity filters.
  - ac29 11y ago
    According to Brita they remove chlorine and cadmium (a heavy metal), amount other things. [1] As near as I can tell, "gravity filters" work on the same priciple as Brita filters [2]. [1] https://www.brita.com/why-brita/what-we-filter/ https://www.brita.com/why-brita/what-we-filter/ [2] http://www.phoenixwaterfilter.com.au/images/stories/phoenix/Gravity_2.jpg http://www.phoenixwaterfilter.com.au/images/stories/phoenix/... P.S. I have never worked for Brita and havent used their products in years, so please dont take my comments as shilling.
- 11y ago

rorykoehler 11y ago

The water in Berlin tastes better after sitting for some time.

rancur 11y ago

mine doesn't at all. ever. in fact i had some in a bottle behind my monitor for a year and it was fine

daily_dose_420 11y ago

wired.com, being as irrelevant as possible for pseudo intellectual sub 100 IQ macbook hipsters.

yousifa 11y ago

Tap water also contains chlorine or chloramine which evaporates fairly quickly (chlorine much quicker). That may affect the taste directly or indirectly by allowing other bacteria to grow in the water.

yousifa 11y ago
+ water quality can change fairly quickly (eg. overnight) source: im a founder of water quality monitoring company