So, exactly HOW does Water Expire?

okaay.... listen to me very carefully..... WATER DOES NOT EXPIRE

Water itself doesn't expire and neither do antacids that are made of calcium carbonate but that's besides the point. The reason why they have expiration dates is because people would stock fallout shelters or their basement with canned goods and think that they never go bad when they can. For safety reasons, most, if not all, consumable foods have expiration dates on them. Personally, I ignore the expiration dates on items that I consider to be 'stable' such as water, minerals, salts, etc.

Regarding how pure water can go bad, the water can leach chemicals from the plastic bottle and develop a funky taste. I've noticed this when I reuse bottles and freeze water in them. I just throw them away after a few uses.

To answer the question about nutritional information, where would you draw the line about which items need nutritional information and which ones don't? Can you imagine the legal headaches of trying to figure out which items don't need it? If straight water doesn't need it, how about flavored water? The list goes on. To avoid the endless debates, every food and drink has to have a nutritional information label on them provided that they have the space to put the label on them. If they don't have the space, then the company needs to provide a way to contact them so you can get the information from them.

In response to TJ's remark about letting out the 'bad' water, the water itself isn't bad. Some cities have issues with old pipes and corrosion. Some of that corrosion gets into the water and the theory is, if you run the water for a while, that sediment full of lead, iron, and other metals is flushed out before you fill your drink. However, I've seen studies from the DC area that show that running the water for 30 seconds can do the opposite and fill your drink with sediment containing lead.

The expiration date is for selling purposes, but if it's in a plastic bottle, the longer the water remains there, the more chemicals are leached out of the plastic and into the water.

I agree with you on the nutritional label which is done to sell the unsure on its vitamin side (which some water claims to have). But then, you'll be surprised by exactly what we have in the water we drink.

It's probably not that the water itself goes bad...but has something to do with the fact that it is stored in a plastic bottle. You know what I mean? Maybe the water picks up a "plastic" taste after the "expiration" date.

About the nutrition facts...two things. First, the law requires that there be nutrition facts on everything. Second, it might be a marketing scheme: people who are concerned about their weight see that water has zero calories, and they buy it. =D

Government mandates that nutritional info be on all products. I think that exp. dates on any bottled drink is stupid. Does Pepsi go bad? But, I fill the pop cooler at my store and use the expiration dates to know which bottles are older. First in, first out!

yea, thats a good question. but society is so concerned about calories, and if something as simple as water didnt have a nutrition label, there would be loads of controversy, and then people would assume that the water had 500 calories.

Water cant Expire - but if you leave it for a long time once you have opened a bottle or left it out in the heat then it will just not taste as nice! but its still drinkable!

They put the expiration on the water because they cannot be sure after that date that the water did not grow bacteria in it.

Too funny... might want to make sure that "pure" water you were drinking actually came from a spring versus tap...

But, I've never known water to actually "go bad"...

According to the FDA everything has to have an expiration date and Nutrional Information, Including beer.

lol that was funny. well, my grandparents have a water refilling business and when i help out, they tell me to let the water out for a while because it's the "bad" water. i think water still needs to be purified from wherever it came from. mountains, rivers, or even the cleansing container. but water doesn't EXPiRE.