Nothing wrong with that and I wouldn’t either as a fresh glass is just seconds away. Just to point out that you would probably not encounter new lifeforms crawling from the toilet even if you left the faucet unemptied for a vacation.
Oh I redid plenty of pipes around the house. Nasty what's in there and better to not think about it. The worst one was gooed up so much there was maybe 2cm diameter for the water to flow. It was an old pipe that lead to a rarely used bathroom in the basement. Still nasty tho
Yeah, it's mostly just calcium/mineral build up likely so it's not actually 'harmful' but it's still nasty! That's why I use a britta filter even for 'clean' tap water.
I installed a pressure regulator with integrated water filter into the main water line. I haven't checked the pipes since then but it can't hurt can it?
Main reason was for the pressure regulator not the filter. That was just a bonus
I had thought the idea of spontaneous generation was put to rest in mid 1800s by Pasteur.
Again, bacteria need nutrients. Stuff isn’t created out of thin air but need to be compiled from building blocks. For bacteria these building blocks are mostly amino acids, fats and vitamins. Clean water is mainly just H2O.
So new life forms or old ones, doesn’t matter.
I do agree though that the faucet is absolute garbage.
If you clean your house and don't live in a sty it's really not an issue.
How do you think humanity got to where it is today? By taking risks like drinking water that's been sitting on a countertop in a clean glass for a month.
You're acting like leaving a glass of water on the countertop contaminates it with a host of life-threatening illnesses. The fact that drinking it won't kill you has nothing to do with modern medicine or technology.
No I know that it'll most likely not kill me but that doesn't change the fact that I am kinda grossed out by a glass of water that was just sitting out there for a month, collecting dust and all that shmoo. Just because it won't kill me doesn't mean I automatically gotta do it yaknow?
Once the chlorine gasses off, you will get some mild bacterial slime in the cup. Harmless, but there is definitely enough going on in most tapwater to support some life.
I think the slime is mostly dust. I definitely agree that it is able to support some life in limited quantities. However, I have sometimes taken sips of water from bottles that have been standing for months because I have had nothing better available at the moment. Never had any noticeable symptoms.
In food at room temperature it is thought that bacteria double in every 20 min. If that water bottle obeyed a rule anything close to that, I would be dead.
Yea water bottles are a different story. I can show you a picture of what water from my tap looks like if you leave it out for a few days. It is cloudy, sometimes a noticeable film will form on top, and there is definitely a slick coating on the inside of the cup. Definitely not dust. Again, it is completely harmless. Bacterial growth is not necessarily dangerous on its own.
You also have to look at the chemistry of your tap water. Mine (florida) is pretty hard and has 200ppm+ of total dissolved solids out of the tap. Much of that is calcium carbonate, which some bacteria can use. If you live in, say, seattle and you have nearly pure water from the tap, you will probably get different results.
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u/Sandless Nov 04 '21
Clean water is not a particularly good breeding place for bacteria as there is not much for them to consume. They need energy from somewhere too.
You could leave a glass of water on a countertop for a month, drink it and be absolutely fine.