Water may look clear and clean, but it still harbors microorganisms and harmful substances. Whether you drink bottled water,桶装水 (barreled water), or water you've boiled yourself, you should try to avoid the following bad habits.
Bad Habit 1: Loving Bottled Water
Convenient and ready to drink, bottled water consumption in China is increasing at an annual rate of 30%. The polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles used for bottled water often contain substances that can lead to chronic poisoning in the human body, especially when the bottles are in a high-temperature environment or are not consumed promptly after opening. Harmful substances can then seep into the water, posing a health risk. Therefore, bottled water must never be heated or left in the sun. The best solution is to buy a good-quality water bottle to carry your own water—it's both safe and environmentally friendly.
Bad Habit 2: Drinking Re-boiled Water
More and more households are using electric kettles these days. Many people boil more water than they can drink at once and then re-boil it later. It's best not to drink this re-boiled water. Many people worry if the water from a water dispenser is re-boiled water. Due to material limitations, the maximum temperature of water in a dispenser is generally around 90°C, which is not enough to reach a boiling point, so it is not re-boiled water. However, the best time to drink barreled water is within 1-15 days of its production. Once it exceeds 15 days, the water contains too many bacteria and should no longer be consumed.
Bad Habit 3: Never Cleaning the Water Dispenser
A water dispenser may seem to provide high-quality water, but it can actually cause serious "secondary pollution." Every time you turn on the tap, you might hear a "gurgling" sound and see a string of bubbles rise from the barrel. This is air entering the system, bringing in dust and microorganisms. According to testing data from the National Environmental Sanitation Monitoring Department, the cold and water tanks inside a barreled water dispenser will breed large amounts of bacteria, such as E. coli and Staphylococcus, if not cleaned for 3 months. Therefore, it's best to clean it once a month, or once every two weeks in the summer. Office water dispensers, due to frequent use, need to be cleaned even more often.