I tried searching the web, but it seems there is contradicting information on whether high automobile temps (I live in Phx, AZ) causes chemicals in those 12 oz/16 oz water bottles to leach into the water. I like carrying water bottles in the truck but don't wish to poison myself. I've noticed that some plastic bottles have very thin walls and other brands seem more durable. Is one brand safer than another? Are all brands going to be safe after a summer in Phoenix? I don't keep any in direct sunlight.

Thanks for your input,
Xavier

My understanding is that the chemical makeup of the plastic is pretty much the same between manufacturers, and what the plastic is, is noted by the number in the recyle symbol on the bottom of the plastic.

Quick survey at home: sports drink bottle and water bottle (those kind that come in 24 packs) are both #1, PETE

A wikipedia page to start with:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene_terephthalate

Store-bought gallon of water in one of those milky plastic bottles + 24 hrs in 112ºF heat at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, and I can absolutely say YES, IT DOES LEACH! It was so bad that the the water was undrinkable.

I haven't tried the newer clear plastic bottles.

Sue

Well, the SODIS method of disinfecting water consists of leaving PET bottles of water out in the sun.
SODIS
Wikipedia-Solar Disinfection

fooman -- that is to kill organisms in the water, not necessarily heat the bottle "the UV-radiation of the sun kills diarrhoea (sic) generating pathogens".

I wonder if a Brita filter would be useful in removing the plastic chemicals which leach into the water? I use one on road trips because once out of SOCAL tap-water can easily be made palatable.

I keep my water bottles inside a soft-sided cooler. I find this does a pretty good job of keeping them relatively cool in a hot car. With that said, I do live in the NY/NJ/PA area, so our summer time temperatures aren't typically as hot as the more southern states.

I have drunk water from generic one liter bottles that have been stored for several years in my truck in Florida. The water tasted like plastic but not so much, being thirsty was a factor, that I couldn't drink it. Other than my bra size going up a bit, and developing an interest in shoes that passed in a couple of week, there were no side effects.

Well, anything you leave out in the tropical sun is going to get hot pretty quick. haha

It is interesting to note that the cited Wikipedia article on the SODIS technique mentions studies that show that leaching of nasty things into the water is inconsequential.

I try and keep my stored water containers in vehicles as cool as possible, but I don't worry about drinking from them when I need water. Overall, only a tiny fraction of my water intake comes from plastic bottles.

If you're looking for an alternative to plastic bottles, I keep a case of Aqua Blox in my truck year-round as an emergency supply and it seems to handle both freezing and 100+ degree temps without any ill effects. The juice-box packaging is rated for 5 years storage and has an impermeable liner to prevent funny tastes or leaching. The last case I rotated out after 3 years tasted fine and I lived to tell the tale. Just my $.02.

Honestly I don't think you're going to poison yourself drinking a .5 liter plastic bottle of water thats been in your car during an AZ summer. I live here to and always keep bottles in my vehicles. It sucks drinking hot water but better than no water.

Yep, but their point was to kill the microbes with UV, not heat. As I understand it is sustained heat and a closed plastic container that gets the leaching chemicals to a level that you can taste. Also, if you are using plastic to make relatively dirty water safe, the least of your worries is a slight leaching of plastic in the short time it sits in the bottle exposed to ambient ultraviolet. OTOH if you have Arrowhead bottled water sitting in your trunk all summer, at the end of August it won't taste as good as when fresh. It's all relative.

I'm thinking a Brita filter used on either after sitting in the bottle could improve the taste.

Yes, but I wish he wouldn't use those esoteric learned terms full of acronyms (crock of BS? - braised salmon?)

I love braised salmon . . good stuff. Sure, the water will be palatable, but it can still be made to taste better.

That said, while I do leave water in the truck, it's in the truck bed under a white bed cover, so it doesn't have the benefit of that greenhouse effect you get with a car.

For what its worth, my main water store in the truck is a 20 liter no name plastic jerry can.

I believe that the plastic water bottle, along with plastic food can linings will be ushered out soon. Although a survival situation presents some unique challenges and choices, for EDC of water we have switched to stainless steel bottles.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/04/28/water-bottles-health.html

I can't drink most bottled water, the kind in disposable bottles, I can taste the plastic. So knowing I can taste it I kind of believe that plastic is not good for you to drink from since there is something coming off in it.

If you can taste "something" in the water after letting the bottle sit in your car, then it's logical to conclude that "something" that wasn't originally in the water is leaching from the plastic. With #1 PET bottles, the main suspect, from what I have read in the past, is phtalates, although that may or may not be what is imparting any taste to the water.

Most plastics that bottled water come in are not as durable as I would like. The soft, milky LDPE plastic jugs are notorious for springing leaks while being stored in a car. I haven't yet had a PET bottle leak yet, but unless it was a thicker-walled PET container and not the thin, crunchy kind of bottle, I wouldn't really consider storing them in a hot car for months at a time.

Probably not as good for you as it might be. For relative context consider the water our ancestors drank. I've drank water out of a ditch and used a tube to pull it up from a crack in rocks and our ancestors did much the same thing.

Absolutely pure and absolutely safe would be great but I don't typically drink much bottled water so drinking a few liters of less than absolutely healthful water isn't a big deal. Simple fact is that health effects of drinking bottled water, even in the worse case, is so small that they need to concentrate the suspected chemicals and limit test animals to only drinking this mix to show any consistent effect.

Drinking a few gallons of bottled water during an emergency doesn't phase me. It also has to be pointed out that while PET bottles do leach tiny amounts of contaminates, if you buy bottle water in polyethylene containers, typically the larger one gallon and up milky looking containers, your exposure is essentially zero for the materials of concern.

I should have mentioned that I wasn't talking about tasting the plastic in bottled water that had sat in a car for months,I can taste it in a bottle of water straight off the shelf. So this tells me that the plastic is leeching something.

There is Alway's the Possibility,The Brand of water you've chosen,was Stored & Filled from equipment using PVC,Plastic,etc.,Providing a Certain Flavor before it even get's into the Final Product!I keep water in my vehicle,24/7 in a Canvas Sack,I have yet to taste the Plastic,& I've been doing this for more than 10 yrs!I have tasted the plastic of a Gatorade bottle that was,Not Properly stored out of the Sun though,It still Quenched my thirst!

Wasn't just one brand, I've tried a lot. There are a couple in sturdier bottles that don't have the plastic taste or like someone said re-using gatorade bottles.