Is it Safe to Drink Water From a Copper Water Bottle?
You are right to ask is it safe to drink water from a copper bottle. Key questions are; what is the recommended daily allowance of copper and how much copper transfers to your drinking water from a copper bottle.
And, is the copper water bottle made from pure copper.
We were curious too, so we commission an independent water testing laboratory to find out how much copper is transferred to water stored in our handcrafted Water Eggs™ copper bottles made from 99% pure copper.
WHO Standards for Copper in Drinking Water
The WHO standard for copper in drinking water is 1.0 mg/L (1,3)
- The tolerable upper intake limit of copper for adults = 10 mg
- The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is approximately one tenth of the upper limit for adults.
- The RDA of copper for an adult is 0.9 mg per day.
Test #1 – How Much Copper is Transferred to Water in a Copper Bottle?
The purpose of the test was to monitor how much copper transferred to water stored inside the copper water bottle and was this amount meet the guidelines laid out by WHO.
The water sample was typical of treated tap water (ph7) in accordance with the international drinking water standards.
This water was stored in a 1 litre copper water bottle for seven days.
During this time 5 seperate samples were taken from the water bottle at various intervals.
During the 7 day test the percentage of copper measured in the water samples remained relatively stable.
At no time did the amount of copper in the water exceed 0.15 mg/litre which easily meets the WHO’s water safety standards.
Test #2 - With Regular Use Does the Amount of Copper Being Transferred to Water Inside the Copper Bottle Increase or Decrease?
A new Water Eggs™ copper bottle was filled with pH adjusted tap water and left to stand for 8 hours before a water sample was taken to measure the copper content.
After the sample was taken and the result recorded the bottle was emptied.
The bottle was left to stand empty for 16 hours before being refilled the next day with fresh water.
After 8 hours another water sample was taken and the results of the copper content in the water were recorded.
In total five test samples were taken over five consecutive days.
The results of this test indicated when a copper water bottle is used regularly the amount of copper transferred to the water inside the bottle does not increase rather, the copper content decreases.
Conclusion
Is it safe to drink water from a copper bottle?
Independent laboratory testing confirmed it is safe to drink water from a pure copper water bottle. There was no indication the amount of copper would exceed international water standards whether the water was stored in a bottle for a week (test #1) or, stored overnight (test #2).
While copper water does supplement your body’s copper levels it will not be excessive when stored like this in a pure copper water bottle.(2)
Final Note:
You will supplement your immune system by drinking copper water.
Copper has incredible antibacterial and anti-viral properties that neutralise pathogens on contact. This means you can be assured the water inside your water bottle is always fresh and free from disease, mould and fungi.
Copper is without doubt the choice material to store your drinking water in.
Little wonder copper has been used for water storage for thousands of years,
References
- “Copper Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.” NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2020. Web. 23 July 2020.
- “Copper.” Health Encyclopedia. University of Rochester Medical Center, 2020. Web. 23 July 2020.
- “Copper in Drinking-water.” Water Sanitation Hygiene. WHO, 2004. Web. 24 July
- “PH in Drinking-water.” Water Sanitation Hygiene. WHO, 2007. Web. 24 July 2020.
About the author:
Kristine Wagner MHS, CPH
Kristine holds a Master of Health Science in Environmental Health and a Certificate in Risk Science from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is a Certified in Public Health Professional by the NBPHE.
She was a Strategic Information Fellow at the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda supporting HIV/AIDS programs in conjunction with the CDC. She worked as a health scientist at Cardno ChemRisk.
As a student, she conducted environmental health research related to oil development in the Ecuadorian Amazon and wrote her graduate thesis on drinking water contamination from hydraulic fracturing.
Kristine is also a professional scuba diving instructor (PADI MSDT) and worked as a diver in Mexico, Thailand, and Turks & Caicos. She also speaks Spanish and French.
