Have you had a problem with smelly kettle water?

Alfa – If a water company says tap water should not be kept in a fridge for more than two hours, what are we to make of the official advice issued to travellers on the London Underground to carry a bottle of water with them on their journey in hot conditions? Many people have the same bottle of water at the end of their working day as they arrived with. Is tap water safer at ambient temperature rather than chilled? This is both obscure and peculiar advice.

I am glad your home water returned to normal eventually. I wonder whether your water company reported the non-conformity to the Drinking Water Inspectorate as they should have.

Tap water will keep for 24 hours covered in a fridge. After then it will have lost most of its chlorine taste and best to replace it, but Wavechange is the person to ask about this.
I always take a glass of water uncovered to bed and often wonder how long before it becomes unsafe to drink.

Most bottled water doesn’t contain chlorine as far as I am aware, so it presumably it wouldn’t be safe to drink once opened for very long I would think.

The advice did sound extremely odd at the time and I did question it. I felt fobbed off more than anything else, so didn’t take much notice or believe the advice I was given.

Not sure I have heard of the Drinking Water Inspectorate though . . .🤔

We deep chilled tap water in the fridge that can stay there for a few days sometimes, AFAIK, I don’t think we have suffered any ill effects from it.

Spring water shouldn’t contain chlorine, but if you buy bottled water especially when out somewhere that sells single bottles, very often they are just tap water, so presumably likely to contain chlorine.

Hard water can produce a scum when boiled. This is why I stopped drinking tea when I moved to a hard water area. It looks unpleasant but is harmless. Fortunately our water is blended with much softer river water these days.

Both fresh tap water and bottled water are tested to make sure that they are free from harmful bacteria, but both should be boiled before being consumed by children or anyone with a seriously compromised immune system. The amount of chlorine in water in tap water can vary because some is lost en route to our taps. A slight taste of chlorine in tap water does not concern me and it provides reassurance that it is safe to drink.

It’s important to keep water bottles free of contamination, either by pouring the water into a cup (reusable please) or pouring the water into your mouth without making contact with lips etc., and then rinsing the bottle before refilling it. In the summer months I keep a bottle of tap water in the boot of the car (away from light and as cool as possible) and have sometimes drunk it after a week.

A bottle filled from the tap will retain chlorine for a few days and if this is still detectable it will be safe to drink. If kept in a covered open container in the fridge to allow the chlorine to disappear I suggest using it within two or three days. The information that Alfa was given about not keeping water in the fridge for more than a couple of hours is nonsense and I would love to have had the opportunity to ask for an explanation.

Like others, I keep bottles of tap water in the fridge, so I can make nice cool drinks.

Thanks for confirming it was nonsense wavechange, I didn’t believe him at the time.