On that old glass of water

Is it okay to drink a glass of water that has been sitting out for a few days? What if I’m not sure how long it’s been sitting out?

I relish when I find a forgotten pint of H20 in my apartment and gulp it down. Fresh tap water doesn’t taste like anything to me but once it has aged for a day, I’m convinced that it tastes better. What is that taste? Dust? Stillness? Paint chips?

My affinity for stagnant water would be a liability in the wild. Outside of the home, carelessly drinking fresh water is a fast track to vom vom. Put your lips to the wrong puddle and you could contract cholera or E. coli. Twice when I was a young child I became sickened with the parasite Giardia after drinking water from a river. The fact that it happened twice suggests that I was too young to grasp the concept of cause (guzzling suburban river water) and effect (explosive diarrhea).

Although untreated fresh water is generally a no-no for drinking, there are exceptions. Apparently the water in Lake Tahoe is totally safe to drink. (Upon learning this, I immediately indulged in a novelty water-drinking experience: I dove into the Lake, swam down ten feet, ingested an unknown volume of water and then surfaced. It tasted refreshing and I didn’t get sick.)

If you live in the US, it’s unlikely that your tap water contains any dangerous microbiological activity. Sure, there can be other bad things that show up in tap water (like lead), which have negative long-term effects. But it would take a really high concentration of chemicals to cause immediate foodborne illness from a single glass of water. 

So, if you’re starting with a clean glass and safe tap water, then the question is this: what happens to a glass of water when it sits out? 

Me sussing out a glass of water

Nothing. Bacteria— even if it somehow floats into your water glass— wouldn’t flourish there because there are no nutrients for it to consume. Old—or vintage, as I prefer to call it— water is perfectly safe. I would unhesitatingly drink water that had been left out for up to a week. After a week, I might worry about dust and airborne grime that could have found its way into the glass. Maybe use that one to water the plants.

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