Drinking Water - Postscript

1- Carol from New Jersey emailed, "I bring my drinking water home from where I work but I've always used milk gallon bottles to store it in. Now that I think about it, sometimes the older water tastes stale or has a chemical taste. Now you have me thinking about using glass bottles. Where do you buy them?" 

Carol, using glass seems better to me too because of the potential chemical leakage from the plastic, especially aging plastic being used repetitively. I've never read scientific reports about it although I've seen warnings on various websites (that I haven't ever confirmed). Is chemical leaching real? I believe it is simply because of the taste factor. Leave a refilled plastic bottle of water rattle around in your car for a few weeks then take a taste. Yuk. Something has definitely gotten into the water. It tastes plastic-y. I surely don't want to drink that stuff. 

Other than carrying water home on the brief trip home, I keep my water in glass. I get discarded glass jugs from the recycle bin, even though we are not suppose to snitch anything out of those bins. But I only take a few of the old wine bottles. Another way to find them would be to talk with your local luquor/state store, restaurant serving wines, nightclubs, etc. Let the manager know that you'd like a few glass gallon jugs and offer to pay for them. Tell the state store owner that perhaps he could tell his buyers of the wine by the gallon that, in the name of recycling, there is a person looking for a few jugs. Offer to pay, say a dollar or two per jug, as an incentive. Another idea.....since apple juice, vinegar, etc at the natural food stores often come in glass gallons, you could post a notice on the store bulletin board that you are looking for a few empties. Store order have one? Suggest to the manager that one would be a nice service to his customers and community. Around my town, bulletin boards draw the eye of customers. 

Anyone else have any suggestions?

2- Dana down in Florida suggested attaching a note with the date to my water storing jugs so that I would know which water was the oldest or newest. She said, "Always rotate you water so that none of the bottles get stale." 

Thank you for the suggestion, Dana. I already have a system for rotating the bottles, but I use a low tech, low input method. I don't need post-it notes nor a pencil. Since I'm focusing on low input and frugality, I devised a quick timing saving method. I simply fill the new bottles to a different level. How about that for cheap! One trip I'll fill the bottles to the top. The next halfway down the neck. The next time to the bottom of the neck. Next to the shoulder of the jug. Then I start the cycle over again. This was I always can tell at a glance which are the oldest or newest bottles. It doesn't take extra time nor use any resources. Simple. The only hitch is that I have to remember which level bottle I'm currently working on, but since it will be on the front of the shelf, I usually remember just fine.