I boil bottle water for 3 minutes for my infant in a sterile pot. I leave it overnight to cool covered. Each time I have found sediments floating. What is that, and is it bad to drink? How can I filter it under sterile conditions?
by 
dr.child
ANSWERS: 3
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You didn't specify how old your infant is... but I personally only boiled things for my first child, until I learned that it really isn't necessary unless they are prone to illness.. or your environment is poor.. and actually my other children weren't as susceptable to colds because their immune systems were able to build a healthy defense. I'm not saying to be sloppy, but that "hospital conditions" are for hospitals, not your home... Water takes 20 minutes to sterilize so what you are doing isn't really sterile. Unless your infant has an extra sensitive problem, you don't have to sterilize... just washing in hot water and dishsoap should be fine. The sediments are the chemicals in the water that you are boiling. and I would wash it with dishsoap just like all your other dishes and utensils.. If you are still leary, buy bottled water.
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I disagree with tjatherton. We moved overseas, so we boil it, let the sediment settle in a thermos, and filter what we pour off. During part of the year, the sediment floats in the teakettle, but still settles to the bottom in a thermos; I don't know why that is, but I do know WHAT it is--lime, mostly calcium carbonate--limestone. Limestone only dissolves into the groundwater because rainwater has a little CO2 in it. When you boil water, the CO2 (an acid) comes out and the lime settles. Test your water for hardness--if it's quite hard, it's bad for your kidneys and you should get it softened somehow. Home water filters also have antibacterial action, silver and such, but American water is safe even without that.
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Dear Tjatherton, The water is from a bottle! as specified in the question. And 3 minutes is all it should take to kill the bacteria. The question was about the sediments in BOTTLED water... I am still not clear on that.
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