How long will the water last in those plastic jugs you get at the grocery store?
Sorry to ask such a rudimentary question.
“How long will the water last in those plastic jugs you get at the grocery store?”
They can start leaking after 6 months.
Many people transfer water into washed-out cola bottles, which last far longer than in the jugs. You have to add a small amount of pure bleach to disinfect, but I can’t remember how much. Google around for instructions.
Out of the light they last a very long time, purified water kept out of light in general last a very long time the most that usually happens is it goes flat as the air goes out of it, but shake it up a bit or pour back and forth from container to container and it will be just fine. The problem with those ‘Milk Type’ jugs is that they almost always develope leaks over time.
However long they last, be aware some won’t. Leaking water jugs can make a stinky mess (wet cardboard/whatever starts rotting...ewww).
Sorry to ask such a rudimentary question."
Now... I don't advise this if you are in an earthquake prone area, but I don't use plastic - I use glass. I buy apple cider in the one gallon glass jugs. Once the apple cider is gone, I wash out the jugs well and then disinfect them. I let them dry. I then fill them with water at a temperature just below boiling (mine comes out of the water heater at 200 degrees, so I use that.) This use of hot water causes the seal on the lid to reseal, and as the water cools, it pulls a vacuum and keeps the water even better sealed.
I tested this system of storage over a 10 year period... Upon opening the jug, I found the water to be just as tasty as the day I bottled it. I find the benefits of the glass jugs far outweigh the risks of an earthquake in my area.
It is important that if you are going to use plastic containers of any type that you do not place them on a concrete surface for storage. I'm not a chemist, but one here on FR did acknowledge that the make-up of concrete can have a detrimental effect upon plastic that causes it to break down over time and possibly contaminate your water. We came up with the idea of placing the plastic jugs on a wooden palate, a section of carpet, or a wooden shelf as a way of preventing this loss...
>> “How long will the water last in those plastic jugs you get at the grocery store? <<
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In most cases they will start to leak in a few months.
What you have to do is take them out of the boxes and break the plastic seal on the valve and snap it out in operating position to keep them from leaking.