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Tap water that has been left to sit out slowly begins to acquire an off taste. Many assume that this is because of micro-organisms. Treated water's added chlorine will take care of small communities of these little guys, but at room temperature they begin to multiply rapidly and can really get the party started. Even with clean water and a clean glass; one sip introduces a host of germs to the mix, in addition to whatever the water may have picked up by ambient dust.
But that's not what makes old water taste stale. For that we can thank carbon dioxide. After about 12 hours tap water starts to go flat as carbon dioxide in the air starts to mix with the water in the glass, lowering its pH and giving it an off taste. But it's most-likely safe to drink.
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As for plastic water bottles that have been left out in the sun or the car, step away from the bottle, warns Dr. Kellogg Schwab, director of the Johns Hopkins University Water Institute. "A chemical called bisphenol-A, or BPA, along with other things used to manufacture plastic can leach into your water if the bottle heats up or sits in the sun," he explains. BPA, as you likely know, is a hormone disruptor has tentatively been linked to everything from heart disease to cancer. Schwab also says that plastic used for bottled water isn't meant to be washed or refilled, so use only one time and recycle. Or way better, don't buy them at all; use a refillable water bottle instead.
I like to let mine sit out until it acquires malarial mosquito larvae.
(Score: 2) by N3Roaster on Friday July 24 2015, @03:54AM
You don't have anything to worry about with the press so long as it's one that you can get spare parts for. The filter will eventually fray or you'll break the glass but that's nothing to do with the water. A few brands are part compatible with each other but if you've got something that you can't get parts for it was probably cheap enough that you won't care too much when it breaks. The method is a bit non-standard but I don't see anything wrong with it and if you like how the coffee tastes, that's what's important.
Unfortunately I haven't done a lot of work with water myself (minimal filtering gets me to spec and when I'm teaching there's usually an event sponsor taking care of the water) and I'm not sure where I left most of the literature I have to provide some good citations. It's not where it should be on my shelves so it's probably either back at work or lent to an employee, but stripping down the water and adding back into it is exactly how the water I use at events is produced, though at much larger scale than you'd do at home.
Typica - Free software for coffee roasting professionals. [typica.us]
(Score: 2) by TrumpetPower! on Friday July 24 2015, @02:58PM
If you do come across it, perhaps you could submit it as a story? Seems to me "Engineer your water for optimum taste" would be be far more deserving of attention than speculation about the safety of day-old water.
b&
All but God can prove this sentence true.
(Score: 2) by N3Roaster on Friday July 24 2015, @03:13PM
The next time I run across something new on the topic (should be soon) I'll keep that in mind. No sense submitting research from the 50s as news, I think.
Typica - Free software for coffee roasting professionals. [typica.us]