Bubble Top water refill packs – How safe are they?
To continue the topic which was sparked off by Sudarsan, I thought it would make sense to touch upon this issue.
Image Courtesy : The Hindu (via google search)
Although the water inside the pack is supposed to be pure, triple distilled, ozononized etc., we seldom realize that the exterior of the pack is simply gathering and collecting dust for free.
If you ever see how these cans are handled, stored and transported, you would think twice before inverting them on your water dispenser.
All I am saying here is that, these mechanisms probably will induce more health related problems if one is not careful.
The key thing to remember here, is that most of the water dispensers have a mouth opening which can accommodate nearly whole of the top portion of the bubble-top. So if one is not careful, the debris from this region goes directly into your water dispenser (ouch).
For starters I strongly recommend:
- watch the water can carefully to see if it has visible dust, mud or some deposits
- Make sure that there is no indication of contamination inside
- Purchase water refill packs only in day time
- Make sure you see and confirm things before breaking open the seal
- avoid local brands which are unheard of completely
There is another alternative to bubble top. That is completely sealed cans. I used to get it from Bisleri sometime back. I do not know if they are still available.
Please make sure that you confirm water quality standards to protect you and your family from easily avoidable problems.
cheers
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The top portion of the bubble top does go inside the water dispenser, but there is also some physics at work here. Water level in the dispenser just about toches the bottom most part of the inverted bubble top. It never rises further to cover more of the inverted top. In a transparent dispenser, one can check this easily.
But I think your point is still valid. There could be dust on the top of the inverted portion which could still come off and fall into the water which we consume.
Can anyone explain the physics behind the behaviour of the water level. Something to do with pressure of viscosity, would be my guess..
The water smells of plastic sometime. What are the health hazards of plastic storage?
@ william
Experts recomment against storing in plastics over a prolonged period of time.
Plastics used to store both food and water have to be of a special grade. I remember someone telling me, that virgin plastics is not used for storing water. This is why if you buy bottled water like kinley or aquafina from India , the recycle count will be something like 2 , 3 or even more.
I certainly dont like bubble top water refils which look dirty or old.
Water smelling of plastics is certainly not a good sign. If it tastes different , please do not consume that. Return it to your vendor and claim another refill.
An alternative to plastic storage bottles are glass water jugs. They are made in the usual 3 and 5 gallon sizes we’re accustomed to seeing with plastic water bottles except, well..they’re glass.
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