Safe to drink boiled water from hot tap?

[Dave Fawthrop]

|On 06 May 2006, Dave Plowman (News) wrote: | |> In article , |> Mxsmanic wrote: |>> Germs, yes, but there might be other inorganic substances in the |>> water that wouldn't be good for you, such as very high levels of |>> iron from the plumbing. |> |> Iron? Pretty well all domestic plumbing in the UK is copper plastic |> or lead. Iron barrel is virtually unheard of. Header tanks were |> steel, but galvanised. If the zinc has gone the tank won't last |> much longer. |> | |I don't know what iron barrel is but some of the feed pipes from the |rising main into the roofspace look as if they might be made of steel. | |The building is about 40 years old.

Then put replacing the pipes on the "to do sometime list"

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A common temperature for re-heating partially cooked chilled stuff is 190C for say maybe 20 minutes in an oven. And any liquid in the foodstuff comes out boiling. I don't think 62 C is anything like enough. Could be wrong, though. ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Indeed. But the text was about hot water taking up minerals, etc. I snipped too much.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Things like chlorine are added to make the water safe to drink. Don't think this could be left to the end user. Fluoride is, of course, a different matter, but does occur naturally in some supplies.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

;-)

I'd put it high up on 'the DIY list of things to do' to replace it. A burst header tank makes a lot of mess...

[The Natural Philosopher]

As kids, we drank water from a tap that was running red.

We fished the decayed crow out some weeks later.

After the water color had cleared up.

Ive been dead for years, as a result of that ;-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

I didn't say just food poisoning bugs did I?

Anyway, boiling water is 100C, plus or minus.., and kills just about any pathogen instantly.

Sure, one or two slip through the net, but they are a minority compared to whats on your hands anyway probably.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I really cannot believe this. Just exactly how is all the water you drink stored anyway, and transported to you? In containers of one sort or another made of all sorts of things. Not to mention having been filtered through layers of nasty organic mud, rabbit poo, fox poo dead sheep and decaying vegetation before getting into dreadful toxic chalky aquifers..being pumped through iron pumps up rusty steel pipes into algae infested water towers, before getting a dose of toxic chlorine to kill the worst of the bugs and shoved down yet more rusty leaking victorian iron pipes to your shiny new MDPE pipe, copper pipe and finally the cold water tap.

Honestly, is your roof tank any different at all?

It is an observed fact that the population of this country are not all dying of cholera, staphylcoccus, streptococcus and E colii, and didn';t die before we had mains water, as long as they boiled the kettle or added a bit of alcohol for their 'small beer'

And if you think bottled or fltered water is much better, think again...

[The Natural Philosopher]

Good idea, as long as its not too much.

I cannot believe the current generation of namby pambies.

I saw that ad on TV 'soon you will protect your eyes from daylight, JUST LIKE YOU PROTECT YOUR SKIN!!!'

Blimey. I have never protected my skin except in tropical places or the beach. And as for EYES? PROTECTING YOUR EYES from a bright day..? I wear shades occasionally because it gets to bright to see clearly thats all.

Yet the default assumption of that advert is that no one dares go outside their house without slapping on suncreanm, sticking on a pair of dark glasses, and probably wearing a gas mask to filter out the real world.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ditto bacteria, algae, amoeba, and fungi.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Then you are in for a hard time.

Unless you intend to synthesise pure water by electrolysis. And retropsectivly add whatever minerals and organics you decide you want.

Otherwise you get what you are given in whatever form you purchase it, whether from a water company or Pepsi ...

Or is it just a knee jerk reaction to 'men in white coats' adding something rather than a dead sheep wedged in a stone wall?

>

[The Natural Philosopher]

No, they are exactly the same bugs in general.

They tend not to get in the guts as easily, nor have such a rich amount of material to feed on, in your lungs and on your hands, thats all.

[Dave Fawthrop]

|In article , | David P wrote: |> I thought that was the basis for saying that food (eggs, meat, etc) must |> be cooked over approx 62 C.

62 deg C is definitely too low.

|A common temperature for re-heating partially cooked chilled stuff is 190C |for say maybe 20 minutes in an oven. And any liquid in the foodstuff comes |out boiling. I don't think 62 C is anything like enough. Could be wrong, |though. ;-)

That is the temperature of the *oven* not final temperature of the centre of the *food*. The temperature of the *edge* of the food is not the temperature at the center of the food. Digital food thermometers with a stainless steel probe are now quite cheap and are IMO a good investment for amateur cooks. The temperature at the centre of reheated food should be

72 deg C or 84 deg C depending on which book you read.

[Andy Hall]

I don't buy water in plastic bottles, only glass.

Given a choice between minimal levels of bacteria which are unlikely to do anything, but in a worse scenario will be handled by the immune system, vs. chemical additives which may well be cumulative and not eliminated by the body, then bacteria win every time.

Of course, so why spoil it with foul tasting tap water?

[Dave Fawthrop]

|It is an observed fact that the population of this country are not all |dying of cholera, staphylcoccus, streptococcus and E colii, and didn';t |die before we had mains water, as long as they boiled the kettle or |added a bit of alcohol for their 'small beer'

Not all but a significant number die of food poisoning, Remember the Scottish case.

[Andy Hall]

Fine, but who makes that decision? I prefer to make my own.

Adverts building on adverts are nothing new.

That's common sense. OTOH, when you have seen somebody with the effects of maligant melanoma, you do consider when it is reasonable and when not to do that.

I wonder if there is something that will filter the emetic stench of oilseed rape and privet.

[Mxsmanic]

Iron in surfaces that are in contact with the water.

If the water in my water heater stands for a long period, it looks a bit rusty the next time I take water from it, and I presume that this is iron oxide, since that's what it looks like.

I don't know exactly what installations may be used. I was simply going on the principle that hot water is a much better solvent than cold water, and if it stands under pressure for a time, it might have quite a bit of junk in it.

The supply plumbing would be sufficient to provide them.

[Mxsmanic]

Hot water sits for long periods in a very old tank under pressure. If I don't use it regularly it comes out a bit rusty looking. My guess is that what looks like rust probably _is_ rust, and is thus a hefty dose of iron. For that reason, I probably wouldn't drink it. And I don't know what else is dissolved in it.

In the case of cold water, if I haven't taken any in a while I let it run for a minute. The building is old and I don't know what the plumbing is made of. Taking a drink immediately from the tap sometimes reveals a metallic taste.

My hot water tank is in the bathroom. The water is electrically heated.

[Dave Fawthrop]

|On Sat, 06 May 2006 11:26:34 +0100, Dave Fawthrop | wrote: | |>On Sat, 06 May 2006 11:00:29 +0100, Andy Hall wrote: |>

|>|On Sat, 06 May 2006 10:42:23 +0100, Dave Fawthrop | |>|>|>Its generally safe to drink boiled water from anywhere, apart from the |>|>|>outflow of a chemical company. |>|>| |>|>| |>|>|Such as those who add chlorine, fluorides, chemicals to kill |>|>|invertebrates,...... |>|>

|>|>Ingestion of chemicals is all about the dose, We can happily ingest a |>|>tiny amount of those without *any* ill effects. |>| |>|I would prefer not to though, and would also prefer to select the |>|chemical content of what I drink rather than allowing a water company |>|to do it for me. |>

|>You prefer to drink bottle water complete with bacteria, and leachate from |>the plastic bottle. Bottled water *usually* contains fewer bacteria than |>the legal limit. | |I don't buy water in plastic bottles, only glass.

Wish I had that much cash :-(

|>The only Life without risk is death. | |Of course, so why spoil it with foul tasting tap water?

Our tap water straight off the Yorkshire peat moors tastes fine.

[Andy Hall]

Not really. It's a matter of choice.

The point is that I can choose from among thousands of different types of bottled water from all over Europe. The multinationals such as Pepsi, Coke and Diageo do have an interest in some of the larger producers of course.

However, there are many independent producers and I can select based on different chemical compositions, but more importantly flavour and hence suitability with different foods.

I don't have knee jerk reactions. Only carefully considered ones.