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chris.packham  
#1 Posted : 12 July 2013 21:14:56(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
chris.packham

Yes, it is Friday! On my way back from London yesterday I purchased a bottle of water. Sitting on the train I read the label. This explained that this water had seeped down through ancient rocks over several years and thus had absorbed minerals from the rocks. It had then come to the surface and been captured and bottled. I noted that it had a 'use by' date. The label also stated: Once used refrigerate and use within 2 days. Not suitable for freezing". On this basis perhaps it is a good thing that the ice in the Antarctic is melting, as freezing water is obviously hazardous! Chris
frankc  
#2 Posted : 12 July 2013 21:39:48(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
frankc

chris.packham wrote:
Yes, it is Friday! I noted that it had a 'use by' date. Chris
Pretty sure that's due to the bottle as opposed to the contents.
frankc  
#3 Posted : 12 July 2013 21:41:26(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
frankc

chris.packham wrote:
Yes, it is Friday! freezing water is obviously hazardous! Chris
I concur, Chris. I once wrote a car off on some of that very same thing. ;-)
stuie  
#4 Posted : 12 July 2013 21:53:29(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
stuie

Can be pretty 'pointy' when frozen too wouldn't want one to fall off the guttering etc onto your unprotected head! Back to root cause lets ban water!!!
Kate  
#5 Posted : 13 July 2013 07:30:54(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Kate

I was recently looking at an msds for common salt. It explained that the salt had formed millions of years ago underground and had evidently been well preserved with no deterioration in all that time, and so appeared to be stable; however, in case it got damp, stocks should be rotated and the shelf life was about a year. The unsuitability for freezing tof he bottled water is presumably due to the expansion of the water breaking the bottle.
AllanFS  
#6 Posted : 13 July 2013 08:51:00(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
AllanFS

Hello. Reference the "Use by Date" - As water is classed as a Food Source it is a requirement that it has a use by date.
johnmurray  
#7 Posted : 13 July 2013 09:52:10(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
johnmurray

"refrigerated and use within 2 days" Hmmm. Have a read of Table 1: http://textbookofbacteriology.net/normalflora.html Obviously referring to transfer of pathogens!
User is suspended until 03/02/2041 16:40:57(UTC) Ian.Blenkharn  
#8 Posted : 13 July 2013 10:10:32(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Ian.Blenkharn

You shouldn't need to refer to a text book - though it's refreshing to see an evidence-based response. In this event, a bit of common sense would suffice to tell that each warning was in fact well founded and appropriately applied to his product, and that this tired old 'joke' doesn't need repeating every year.
johnmurray  
#9 Posted : 13 July 2013 14:38:38(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
johnmurray

"All studies which have examined the microbiology of bottled mineral waters from retail outlets have found high total colony counts, particularly in still waters" "The bacterial flora of bottled mineral water increases in numbers after bottling, reaching a peak by the end of 1 week (Yurdusev and Ducluzeau 1985; Bischofberger et al. 1990; Gonzalez et al. 1987; Morais and da Costa 1990)" www.researchgate.net/pub...e/79e415112ec006260c.pdf
Betta Spenden  
#10 Posted : 13 July 2013 22:23:49(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Betta Spenden

Next time you are in a supermarket whose name begins and ends with T & O, read their bottled water labels. Some will be pleased to note that their special water is actually suitable for vegetarians. Crack on.
Graham Bullough  
#11 Posted : 15 July 2013 01:23:13(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Graham Bullough

stuart jones' response at #4 prompts me to mention an unusual incident from February 1906 in which a workman was fatally injured by an icicle falling on his head at a slate quarry in North Wales. His widow subsequently made a compensation claim against the quarry company which declined to pay any money. This was because it asserted that the workman had been blatantly negligent: Despite warnings from supervisors and other workers, and against company rules, the man had persisted in working beneath an overhanging area where ice had formed. Bear in mind that in those days safety helmets generally hadn't been developed for mining, quarrying and other occupations where head injuries were commonplace. The disputed claim led to a county court hearing at which various supervisors and workmen confirmed that warnings had been given about the ice. However, when cross-examined, the workmen said that they didn't think any of the ice would fall. As a result the judge decided in favour of the widow who was awarded £145 (about £15k in today's money). Curiously, a report of the death in a local paper had included a comment that the supervisors should have arranged for the ice to be removed rather than simply warn the workman and others about it, and further added that "it's easy to be wise after the event."
Melrose80086  
#12 Posted : 15 July 2013 14:31:59(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Melrose80086

Am fully aware of the damage icicles can do - my wee car sustaining a direct hit from one (plus a slab of ice) that had formed on the roof of my house and landed on the bonnet! Result - massive dent and having to source a replacement from a breakers yard. Now park the car slightly further back in the winter months! (though that was a particularly bad year with the M8 Edinbugh to Glasgow road closed due to snow falling and then a rapid freeze - left 100s stranded in their cars!).
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