everyday chemistry - Does water really 'go bad' after a couple of days?

Among my friends it is a sort of 'common wisdom' that you should throw away water after a couple of days if it was taken from the tap and stored in a bottle outside the fridge, because it has 'gone bad'. First of all, the couple of days is not very well defined, which already makes me a bit suspicious. Second, I cannot think of anything in tap water that would make the water undrinkable after a couple of days already.

Can someone clarify this issue for me? Does tap water really 'go bad' after a couple of days outside the fridge? Why?

Answer

First of all, it depends on how the tap water was treated before it was piped to your house. In most cases, the water was chlorinated to remove microorganisms. By the time the water arrives at your house, there is very little (if any) chlorine left in the water. When you fill you container, there is likely to be some microorganisms present (either in the container or in the water). In a nutrient rich environment, you can see colonies within 3 days. For tap water, it will probably take 2 to 3 weeks. But that doesn't mean that the small amount of growth doesn't produce bad tasting compounds (acetic acid, urea, etc.).

BTW Nicolau Saker Neto, cold water dissolves more gas than hot water. Watch when you heat water on your stove. Before it boils, you will see gas bubbles that form on the bottom and go to the surface (dissolved gases) and bubbles that disappear while rising to the surface (water vapor).