I have had tests performed on emergency drinking water for US Navy life rafts. These are 0.5 liter HDPE-2 bottles. Tests have been performed on samples from five to eight years of age. The type of tests were for Volatile Organics and Base/Neutral/Acids using GC Mass spectrometer tests and also Total Plate Count tests. We tested samples from a Swedish manufacturer and a US mfr. that had sold emergency bottled water to the USN for life raft use.

US Navy life rafts are serviced every five years and we wanted to ensure the safety of the drinking water throughout the service period.

The GCMS tests showed that there were no dangerous levels of any harmful leachates from the HDPE used in the containers. Some bottles from the Swedish mfr. did have high plate counts (5500 and 4300 on two samples) however none of the pathogens were fecal coliform which pose the most hazard to drinking water. The high plate counts were attributable to poor sealing of the containers and not the water quality when bottled.

Both bottled water manufacturers used water run through a reverse osmosis system that had been sterilized in the bottle after sealing by autoclaving (heating) the water to just below boiling point. This method kills any stray germs that may have entered during the bottling process. I understand that some companies fill their bottles with water at just below boiling point and then immediately seal them. This sterilizes the water and the bottle. When the water cools, a slight vacuum is formed causing the bottle to suck in somewhat. A loss of vacuum would indicate that the seal has been compromised.

If you wanted to bottle your own water for long term storage, I would recommend using HDPE/Nalgene bottles and boiling the water prior to filling. The loss of vacuum would be indicate whether sterility may be compromised.

Regards,

Tom