Bongo Fury

Hi Helen. Not sure what the regulators interest would be since the scientists are still arguing, according to this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... truth.html

At a quick glance, polyethylene water containers don't seem to be at the centre of concern.

I'm definitely in the danger zone since I microwave food in plastic packaging every day

I'm just speaking from my experience, I've always drunk the water through the camper or caravan that I've had. I lived in my caravan for 4 years and sterilised the system every 6 months or so and never had any issues. Perhaps the taste suffered but nothing that noticeableand I certainly wasn't ill. When you actually looked at the pipes and tank they were in terrible condition inside however I never got ill.

We carry 150 litres on our boat, all of it in plastic and no ill effects, at least not from the water:-) It's all kept out of the light and we try, as far as possible to ensure that the last filled is the last used but human error often creeps in so some of it may well sit there for a year or more.
Regards,
Brian

Hi
Likewise...lived in a caravan when we sold up and moved here, plus we lived in it while we got the house restored....BUT...the water is regularly replaced on that basis...AND there's the chance to sterilise regularly...I must say, though, when we lived in the yard, there were plenty of rats crawling over anything outside... ....As a general awareness, though, bottled water is pretty well safe in comparison to the way a lot of foodstuff is supplied and kept, and bearing in mind what's pumped through the mains water supply , I'd prefer to chance bottled water every time. AND the tap water in most places I've lived actually smelled of chemical .
Cheers
Helen

Just to get things back on track, I'm thinking that the original concern over plastic vs. stainless steel relates to chemical contamination / leaching rather than microbial/organisms. I can't think that either plastic or stainless steel will magically prevent the latter - only cleaning out / sterilising can do that. What both have in common though is that long standing water is more likely to have issues than fresh water. And whilst microbial contamination may make you unwell quickly, the effects of chemical contamination (assuming they're of significance, and I'm not sure they are in the case of the polythene containers used in campervans etc.) may not be felt for many years, and may be hard to connect to the chemical in question.

Cheers Mike, always a welcome input

I regually remove old big cold water storage tanks
To do away with completely or replace with smaller ones
The less stored water the better and the quicker turn over of that water the better

The pipes can get a build up on the inside over the years
They don't seem to bother about this if its used regually

for lead water mains still in use they say the built up coating on the inside is a protection from the lead
Getting into the water any more so leave be