How long can you keep boiled water for?

Question

How long does boiled water stay sterile for? i boil heaps and put it in all the babies bottles so i have it there. Someone told me you could only keep for 24 hours then you have to reboil change the water. Does anybody know?

Answer 1

How good is the seal on the bottles?  In theory, if the water is sterile, the cap and seal are sterile, and the inside of the bottle is sterile, then the water is sterile until the seal is broken.

In practice, nothing is ever quite perfect, so to be on the safe side, there are recommendations to only keep it so long.  Packaged water for survival purposes is typically rated for 5 year shelf life.

Practices are strict because of the nature of formula and the obvious concern we have over the health of our babies. Some time when you want to do a biology project, put one drop of formula in a glass of water, cover and place in cool dark place for a week.  See what grows there.

Grandpa

Answer 2

Until its temperature drops below 162°F, then it's no longer sterile.

Answer 3

i was told 24 hours and then to boil FRESH water... don't reboil the other stuff

Answer 4

I did the same thing you are doing, i boiled tons of water and kept it in milk jugs and i never had any problems at all!