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The Water Bottle Topic


Fat Guy

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I recently acquired a set of three Sigg metal water bottles. I must say, they are very nice. Lately, my only use for bottled water has been in situations where portability was required. But now with these Sigg bottles I may never buy bottled water again, at least not in a place where the water is safe to drink

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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I use CamelBak Podium Ice bottles. I bought them for the 300 - 400 km a week I bike during the months when the ground's not covered with snow and ice but I use them whenever I need a way to transport water. My drinks stay cool longer in them than in any other bottle cage compatible bottle I've used.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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A friend's daughter turned me onto the metal ones and I got one at TJ Maxx. I have given up on bottled water and just use the tap so this is a good transport system. They do not keep it cold but I just toss in ice cubes if it is a long day. Usually have ice tea in them.

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Give it a couple months, you'll end up tossing it. The metallic taste will creep in or the plastic lid will gradually lose its ability to properly tighten. I wanted desperately to like them and tried several, but always wound up back with my clear blue Nalgene bottle.

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I have several of the Klean Kanteen bottles, and some other, cheaper, stainless bottles of varying sizes. I love them. They don't have a resin liner, like the Sigg, and I have had NOT problems with leaking caps. I put the water I filter through my Berkey in them and take them when I leave the house. I even have one in the bedroom for nighttime drinks of water.

I don't like the plasticky taste I get with plastic bottles.

Tracy

Lenexa, KS, USA

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High-quality stainless isn't going to leech into the water. If it did, bar owners would be screaming for a better solution than stainless steel kegs for transporting beer.

I'm for anything that reduces our consumption (and wanton disposal) of plastic. Next to nobody in my area recycles. So the plastic bags and bottles end up in the Pacific where we can wait a few hundred years for them to photodegrade.

(EDIT - Or they end up in a landfill, where they might actually sit until plate tectonics finally takes care of 'em.)

Edited by ScoopKW (log)

Who cares how time advances? I am drinking ale today. -- Edgar Allan Poe

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I'll put in another vote for the Klean Kanteen. They're quality, and I've never had any problems with leaking or a metallic taste. I don't buy water, just use filtered from home. Or in some of the libraries and school buildings I frequent, they have these neat filter systems designed to fill your water bottle. You put the bottle under and the filtered water flows-the wave of the future.

nunc est bibendum...

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There's no steel/metallic taste with my Sigg. Love it. Felt really guilty about all the cups and/or bottles I was going through at work. The threads on the cap strip easily so invest in some extras if you can't get the hang of getting it screwed on straight but otherwise it's perfect. Tap water is fine where I live so I was never a huge consumer of bottled but now I don't even use paper cups at work. I'm not super "green" in general but every little bit helps.

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I used the same stainless steel thermal bottle for about 15 years to schlep coffee to work with me. Never noticed any metallic taste from it, and I'd think the acidic coffee would be far more likely to extract such a taste than water would be. I did clean it with baking soda frequently and rinsed it every day, but no off tastes. I just don't see how water that doesn't sit for an extremely prolonged period of time could develop a metal taste from stainless steel. Key phrase - "doesn't sit for an extremely prolonged period of time".

--Roberta--

"Let's slip out of these wet clothes, and into a dry Martini" - Robert Benchley

Pierogi's eG Foodblog

My *outside* blog, "A Pound Of Yeast"

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Give it a couple months, you'll end up tossing it. The metallic taste will creep in or the plastic lid will gradually lose its ability to properly tighten. I wanted desperately to like them and tried several, but always wound up back with my clear blue Nalgene bottle.

I've had my Sigg bottle for 3 years now and it's been fine.

PS: I am a guy.

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My wife has had a Sigg for 15 years that's been through everything you can imagine all over the world and is still her go-to water bottle: no weird tastes, cap still works fine. I thought she was insane. Then I got one at TJ Maxx a few months ago and I'm officially Sigg-ified.

I have a hygiene question. Someone somewhere in the forums recently wrote that drinking from the same water bottle without washing it is like reusing an unwashed fork. Maybe I'm missing something, but I guess I thought that water was, like, cleaner than the dozens of things that sit on the end of a fork, and the water bottle never sees the inside of my mouth. Am I being a crazy fool not to wash this water bottle every day, or can I continue to wipe it off now and then and avoid certain death?

Chris Amirault

eG Ethics Signatory

Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts

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Are you not drinking directly from the bottle?

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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Am I being a crazy fool not to wash this water bottle every day, or can I continue to wipe it off now and then and avoid certain death?

Here's a quote from an article on reusable bottles: ARTICLE HERE. "Reusable water bottles are better ecologically, but when the water sits overly long, it becomes the perfect environment for bacteria, mold, or algae."

Bottles do need to be emptied completely and cleaned regularly. The article gives cleaning options including hydrogen peroxide, bleach, baking soda, and white vinegar.

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I use a Nalgene for my water bottle needs (which not too frequent). Works fine, taste-free. And it doesn't hold onto flavors too long, especially for plastic. I stored leftover mulled wine in it and after a quick washing it was flavor-free.

For those looking to clean SS containers--you might want to try Oxiclean + boiling water. It works a wonder at getting rid of coffee residue in my thermos.

Of course, I'm about the opposite of a germophobe, so I question whether there is any safety problem from "old" water. I understand cleaning for the sake of making the water taste good, but are any of the things that grow in old water dangerous?

Edited by emannths (log)
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I think especially if you're drinking directly from the bottle it makes sense to wash it daily. The mouth is full of bacteria and there is usually at least some backwash.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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I think especially if you're drinking directly from the bottle it makes sense to wash it daily. The mouth is full of bacteria and there is usually at least some backwash.

The concern is bacteria that started in your mouth in the first place? I'm not sure that makes sense.

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ANY bottle can get "off" smelling if it's not left to dry between fillings. I run my Klean Kanteens through the dishwasher every so often, but generally only when I've had something other than water in them. If it was just water, I rinse with fresh tap water and turn upside-down in the dish drainer to dry. And as far as reusing an unwashed fork is concerned, I regularly rinse my work dishes in the lunchroom sink, no dish soap, dry them, and stick them back in my desk. No food remains, and I'm the only one who uses them (if I lend them out, I strongly caution the user to wash before using), so I don't think it's a huge problem. I know that frequently, backpackers will opt not to use soap for one reason or another, and if you're not sharing utensils and are careful to remove residue and dry them, nothing is likely to live on your steel fork.

Oh, if you get coffee or tea stains in your bottle (or coffee/tea cup at work), denture cleaner works well to remove the stains.

ETA stuff about denture cleaner

Edited by thock (log)

Tracy

Lenexa, KS, USA

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Another vote for Kleen Kanteen. Very high quality and pricier, but isn't that how it usually goes?

I like my water cold, so the 2nd one I bought is the insulated one (basically like a thermos with a more user friendly top for easy drinking.

Highly recommended.

---------------------------------------------------------

"If you don't want to use butter, add cream."

Julia Child

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The concern is bacteria that started in your mouth in the first place? I'm not sure that makes sense.

I'm sure. Here's why. Our mouth contains a X amount of bacteria -- and we can live with that. The acidic nature of our saliva keeps the worst nasties at bay. They cannot easily multiply in an acidic environment.

Place the nasties on a drop of water, and they swarm and multiply. Some die. Other nasties land on the water and feed on the dead bacteria. Then the next person to take a sip gets a super-concentrated blast of infectious organisms.

It's basically the same argument as, "Why do I need to wash my bath towel? I was clean when I last used it."

Who cares how time advances? I am drinking ale today. -- Edgar Allan Poe

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Have you looked at the Kor One water bottles? Both stylish and pretty decent ergonomics. The top is hinged and flips open easily. Also the opening is large enough that ice cubes can be put into it. They say it is made with BPA-free Tritan. Kor's website gives a fairly convincing argument about the Kor products.

"A cloud o' dust! Could be most anything. Even a whirling dervish.

That, gentlemen, is the whirlingest dervish of them all." - The Professionals by Richard Brooks

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The Kor One's are cool looking for sure. No matter what people say about the whole BPA thing, my completely unscientific and made-up opinion is that some of the plastic gets into / flavors water vs. Kleen Kanteen Stainless models. Any scientific types out there that can set us straight on the plastic vs. stainless steel arguments?

---------------------------------------------------------

"If you don't want to use butter, add cream."

Julia Child

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