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  • Is it okay to boil water more than once

    From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jul 18 11:46:13 2025
    Is it okay to boil water more than once, or should you empty the
    kettle every time?

    But is it okay to re-boil water that's already in the kettle from last
    time? While bringing water to a boil disinfects it, you may have heard
    that boiling water more than once will somehow make the water harmful
    and therefore you should empty the kettle each time.

    https://theconversation.com/is-it-okay-to-boil-water-more-than-once-or-should-you-empty-the-kettle-every-time-260293

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Michael Trew@21:1/5 to JAB on Sat Jul 19 13:14:39 2025
    On 7/18/2025 12:46 PM, JAB wrote:
    Is it okay to boil water more than once, or should you empty the
    kettle every time?

    But is it okay to re-boil water that's already in the kettle from last
    time? While bringing water to a boil disinfects it, you may have heard
    that boiling water more than once will somehow make the water harmful
    and therefore you should empty the kettle each time.

    https://theconversation.com/is-it-okay-to-boil-water-more-than-once-or-should-you-empty-the-kettle-every-time-260293


    "The kettle is a household staple..." This article must be European,
    electric kettles aren't very common in the US. I once had an electric
    tea kettle, but being a plastic container, I threw it out... I don't
    want to boil water over again in plastics, that's for sure.

    We use a regular tea kettle on the gas stove when needed. Whether used commonly or infrequently, I still prefer to dump the water and use fresh
    tap water. Maybe my thought process is skewed, but I figure that the
    chlorine content in the fresh water I put in helps to keep the kettle
    clean. Plus, heavy metals could leak from an old metal tea kettle.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From JAB@21:1/5 to michael.trew@att.net on Sat Jul 19 12:36:54 2025
    On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 13:14:39 -0400, Michael Trew
    <michael.trew@att.net> wrote:

    "The kettle is a household staple..." This article must be European,

    The Illawarra is a coastal region in the southeast of the Australian
    state of New South Wales.

    dump the water and use fresh
    tap water.

    Not needed if the water is safe.

    "During boiling, some volatile organic compounds might escape into the
    air, but the amount of the inorganic compounds (such as metals and
    salts) remains unchanged.

    While the concentration of inorganic compounds might increase as
    drinking water evaporates when boiled, evidence shows it doesn't
    happen to such an extent that it would be hazardous."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Mike Spencer@21:1/5 to JAB on Sun Jul 20 04:44:36 2025
    JAB <here@is.invalid> writes:

    While the concentration of inorganic compounds might increase as
    drinking water evaporates when boiled, evidence shows it doesn't
    happen to such an extent that it would be hazardous."

    The exception might be the household that leaves a tea ketle on the
    wood range 24/7, adding water as it steams or boils away. Normally
    50% or more of that water would be used daily but if refilled
    repeatedly for days without using much or any, you could get
    (estimating here) a 10:1 concentration of anything non-volatile and
    non-heat labile. Any potential risk would depend on pre-existing
    borderline levels of heavy metals or very stable organics in the water
    source.

    There's no risk from using "previously boiled" water.

    --
    Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere on Sun Jul 20 16:24:27 2025
    On 20 Jul 2025 04:44:36 -0300, Mike Spencer
    <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote:

    exception might be

    Article's focus was about boiling water, with no mention of kettle
    itself adding inorganic material.

    Let's see, 6 glasses of water vs 3x kettle boiled added
    water...glasses of water would have more inorganic matter.

    Water - "The water contained trace amounts of metals such as iron and
    lead, low enough magnesium levels that it can't be tasted, and sodium
    levels substantially lower than those in popular soft drinks."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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