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[whereshegoes]

One thing I noticed when travelling is how one may buy a water bottle and refill it. I have seen people get very attached to their bottles.

I understand recycling but I think that after a reasonable amount of time, it should be replaced with a new one. Though it is still just water, bacteria can build up.

I have seen some pretty gross looking specimens.

[Jawad]

One thing I noticed when travelling is how one may buy a water bottle and refill it. I have seen people get very attached to their bottles.

I understand recycling but I think that after a reasonable amount of time, it should be replaced with a new one. Though it is still just water, bacteria can build up.

I have seen some pretty gross looking specimens.

Better still, buy a proper aluminium water flask that contains an epoxy resin coating inside. There are many brands and styles; select one to suit your budget. The interior resin coating inhibits the build up of bacteria even when the bottle gets dented...and they ALLWAYS get dented!

During the lifetime of one of these flasks it will pay for itself and reduce the number of discarded plastic water bottles.

[Barrett]

I went with the near ubiquitous and unbreakable Nalgene water bottle, which certainly did get funky after too long in SE Asia. A good rinse with safe water and some soap did the trick through and I never had to worry about leaks or breaking open from cheap plastic bottles. I had the narrow mouth for easier drinking but a lot of people prefer the wide-mouth for quick filling.

[zzz_Hollie]

Yup, I went for the Nalgene too - I've had loads and lost them along the way but am always gutted 'cos I characterise them! Always gone for the wide top but you can buy a convenient little pop in thing now to make it narrow for drinking and wide for filling! Not got to the unhygenic stage yet 'cos I've not managed to hold on to one long enough, maybe this time though (not sure that's a healthy aim!)!

[uncle_davros]

And from my recent experience, it does not matter what bottles you use, there is still a distinct possibility you will get sick. Both Lucinate and myself are very careful with our water, but I have ended up with Hep E, and we do not share with anyone !!!

[peacefrog]

Don't know if it is still relevant, but I had a search on the net with nalgene lexan products: apparently there are serious health questions being raised with polycarbonate (PC / Lexan) plastic being used for food/drink packaging.
On their website, nalgene give links to scientific reports saying that everything is ok... so no real answer. Might also be a commercial/lobby attack, no idea. But it is not new.
Nalgene propose their products in different types of plastic, the issue is only about lexan, which seems to be the most popular.

Then there are plenty other thing bad for our health, and for this one there is no certainty.... but I definitely don't want to be finding out after 20years of use.
check out your bottles

[andrea]

Another good thing about Nalgene: Most water filters will screw right on to the top!

Andrea

[lraleigh]

Using a filter is good, but it won't kill germs and such that develop over time in the water bottle. For purification of water, I use and heartily recommend Aqua Mira. It's a chemical treatment like those in western cities but without nasty residual chemicals (they break down in the chemical reaction). It'll also purify your water bottle and you don't have to keep buying new bottles of water.

best,

Lloyd

[whereshegoes]

I remember once when going through Europe, a nurse who was backpacking around scared the beejeebees out of me with stories of "catching" fatal diseases from sharing water bottles...what a way to go, I thought!