keyven

I generally keep my bladder in there for a week or two max but it's been several months since I last used it - should I take it out and wash it or leave it?

Would there a rough time limit before it becomes theoretically unsafe to drink from - like water that has been frozen for a year or so?

Thanks for any advice!

TenSpeedV2

Next time, empty it out, then put it in the freezer. Mine is in there right now, and has been for a hot minute, like a year I think.

keyven

Thanks for the advice. Will do!

WizardOfBoz

Are you interested in testing the maximum duration of freezing before you get a water-born GI infection? Why is this important?

Why not take it out, thaw it, wash it in warm water, disinfect with a dilute bleach solution, and rinse with distilled water, then dry?

Then wash with soap and water once a week, before you fill and freeze it for the day.

Why would this information be relevant? What record are you trying to set? How hard is it to clean the thing and replace the water once in a while?

JohnDThompson 

What would be the point of storing an empty bladder in the freezer?

JanMM

If it is put in the freezer clean it will come out clean. Including the water.
Have never heard of water 'going bad' in a freezer, other than ice cubes picking up flavors/odors if not regularly used but they are not generally in a sealed container.
That said, I only stick my Polar bottles - reasonably clean - in the freezer in anticipation of a ride, and then with only a couple of inches of water.
I don't generally store stuff in the freezer that doesn't require freezing.

rm -rf

Freezer time limits are for food. It's hard to avoid "freezer burn" which is the loss of water content and oxidation in the food. Your bag of water won't go bad (but it might shrink slightly!)

berner

I've stored water for over one month during a voyage from New York to England and all was fine. If the container is clean to begin with, it will remain clean when frozen.

TenSpeedV2

No mold, no smell, no issues.

CycleryNorth81

+1

prathmann

Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through if one already has a frozen container of water in the freezer. Assuming the water and container were both clean when first put in the freezer I can't see why they wouldn't still be clean many years later.

CycleryNorth81

Freezing the water does not kill the bacteria. The water placed in the bladder in not sterile in the first place.

https://askkaren.custhelp.com/app/an...ll-bacteria%3F

WizardOfBoz

Mulltiple freeze/thaw cycles (which is what the defrost function does), food contamination, contamination from your mouth if you don't wash the bottle before you fill it and put it in the freezer...

The point is, if you're concerned about bad GI bugs, you can take simple steps like washing with soap and water. Why depend upon something remaining safe over a year in the freezer?

TimothyH

Microbes can grow in the freezer.

The generally accepted practice for long term food storage is to keep the freezer at 0°F or lower. Microbes are inactive at 0°F or lower but will become active above this temperature. If you don't know the temperature of your freezer then assume that microbe growth is a possibility.

This isn't something I made up but comes from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The bottom line for safety is to clean water bladders and hoses, and especially the mouthpiece frequently. A spoon full of bleach in water does the trick.



-Tim-

cyccommute 

"Freezer burn" is the loss of water through sublimation. Basically, the water in meats (mostly) goes from the solid state to the vapor state without having to pass through the liquid phase. The water then condenses on the inside of the storage container but can't get back into the frozen item. The thaw/freeze cycle used in frost-free freezers to avoid ice build up also contributes to the sublimation process.

That said, water in a container won't be lost. It just condenses within the container and melts back into the bag when the bag is thawed.

The water in freezer-burned meats isn't lost either. It just condenses on the inside of the wrapper if the wrapper is impermeable to water. However when the frozen meat is thawed the water stays out of the meat.

cyccommute 

Time limit on frozen water being unsafe to drink? 20,000 to 2 million years, roughly. And the 2 million year limit is probably because you won't find any glaciers older than that.

Realistially, it shouldn't matter. Freezing isn't conducive to microgrowth...not that there is much in the way of microbes in treated water. Freezing also slows down any possible chemical reactions as well. But, again, there's not much going on chemically in the water to begin with.

Thaw it. Use it. Fill it. And use it again.

TimothyH

Microbes can grow above 0°F.

Growth is certainly slowed but microbes are active above 0°.

I had a bag of Tyson chicken nuggets go bad in a freezer at about 15°F. The bag puffed up and smelled foul after approximately six months.

USDA recommends 0°F or lower for long term storage and complete deactivation of microbes.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal...afety/CT_Index


-Tim-

wvridgerider

I use denture cleaners in my bladder. I never have any problems, buy cheap ones and put about four in the bladder and let sit a while, no taste and works well.

cyccommute 

Most freezers average out to -17°C which is 0°F. There is a freeze/thaw cycle that your frostfree freezing goes throw where it cycles from -20°C to 0°c (-4°F to 32°F for the metrically challenged) over about a 10 hour cycle but that average is -17°C. If your "freezer" is averaging 15°F (-9°C), it was malfunctioning.

That said, there isn't much in treated domestic water that can go bad even in a 15°F freezer.

By the way, I had to actually measure the above because of an unexpected result on a storage experiment for work. I data logged freezers for over a week.

Hiro11

Storing an empty water bladder in your freezer is a great idea. However, I'm really confused as to why you put it in there full of water? Empty it out next time.

prathmann

Probably because you want the bladder full of ice at the start of your next trip and may not be sure when that'll be. That way it's ready to go the moment you are. Better than telling your friend "I'd love to go with you, but I have to wait a few hours for this water to freeze."

Hiro11

Ah. Such concepts are alien to us here in the frozen north at this time of year.

jitenshajin

Not sure the value of a bladder full of ice is when it's liquid water you need.

unterhausen

I think the bladder for my hydration pack has been in the freezer for almost 2 years without use. There have been multi-month periods it was in there in the past without issue. If I needed it, I would use it tomorrow without worrying about it.

It has only ever had water in it. If it had something that contained sugar, that would be different.

MoAlpha

...and bacteria and fungi don't grow in nutrient free environments, like clean water, and photosynthetic algae don't grow without light, but someone thinks they know more than you do, so suck it up.