Safe Water Bottles for Kiddos

[itsflantastic]

Hi Forum,

So I'm a preschool teacher and I have the job of picking out water bottles for every kid to have on the playground this summer (our regular playground is under construction and the temporary one is far from a water source). This means I have to find 90 reasonably priced bottles that can withstand exposure to sunlight w/ out breaking down and being repeatedly put in a sanitizer at night. I'm also concerned about the chemical elements that are proven to disrupt endocrine function - especially in young kids.

Any and all help in this area is appreciated. I figure that you guys are probably the wisest resource on water bottles that I know :)

Cheers!
Dan

[sg8357]

Kleen Kanteen.

http://www.kleankanteen.com/products/classic/klean-kanteen-27oz-classic.php

Will save you hours of answering questions about plastics.

The 18oz bottle when polished will fit a Blackburn CF cage perfectly.
http://www.blackburndesign.com/cages.html

[AngryScientist]

stainless will be more expensive, but without a doubt the most "non reactive" material. no matter how good the plastic, leave a water bottle in the sun for a few hours and the water just dont taste right after.

[bumknees]

perhaps this is being a bit paranoid, but full metal water bottles could be "dangerous" in the hands of bullies or in playground scuffles.

[itsflantastic]

Not too worried about scuffles. Kleen Kanteen offers 40% off for schools buying in bulk, but it's still about 4x more than the bulk price from Nalgene.
Any other thoughts?

[steveo]

I second Klean Kanteen

[retrofit]

Target. $4.95 (http://www.target.com/Essentials-Stainless-Steel-Water-Bottle/dp/B003ME8WT2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=stainless%20water%20bottles&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-1&qid=1304023750&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=Essentials%20Stainless%20Steel%20Water%20Bottle&node=1038576%7C1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_ primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0) Stainless steel with polypropylene cap, though not as fancy as Kleen-Kanteen.

[eddief]

heard they contain no poison. get Specialized to print them up for your school as a donation??? i bought some from bikewagon.com with their logo for less than $5 a piece.

http://www.specializedwaterbottles.com/

[retrofit]

heard they contain no poison. get Specialized to print them up for your school as a donation??? i bought some from bikewagon.com with their logo for less than $5 a piece.

http://www.specializedwaterbottles.com/

Nice!

[Ahneida Ride]

perhaps this is being a bit paranoid, but full metal water bottles could be "dangerous" in the hands of bullies or in playground scuffles.

could be also good protection against Bullies .. ;)

[eddief]

the bottles are really easy to squeeze and have an opening in the top that is big...so you can gush that stuff into a thirsty mouth as if from a fire hose...slight exaggeration, but the best i have found so far.

[witcombusa]

What ever happened to water fountains? :confused:

We all survived somehow....(how far away could it be?)

[Karin Kirk]

I love Kleen Kanteens, but as retrofit points out, you can get stainless bottles more cheaply. The company that does our screen printing offers stainless bottles that are cheap and you could have printed with sponsors or what have you.

A recent study suggests that all plastic bottles, even BPA-free bottles, leach plastic compounds into their contents. If your intent is to avoid that, stainless is the clear way to go.

[eddief]

I love Kleen Kanteens, but as retrofit points out, you can get stainless bottles more cheaply. The company that does our screen printing offers stainless bottles that are cheap and you could have printed with sponsors or what have you.

A recent study suggests that all plastic bottles, even BPA-free bottles, leach plastic compounds into their contents. If your intent is to avoid that, stainless is the clear way to go.

don't ya think?

"INDEPENDENT TESTING OF PURISTTo confirm the purity of the bottle, Purist was submitted to independent verification testing at SGS. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, SGS is recognized as the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing, and certification company.


During the verification, SGS put full bottles through a torture chamber of tests: prolonged exposure to UV rays, extreme heat and cold, as well as tests for lead and heavy metals. To analyze the purity of the water, contamination was checked at parts per billion...

The result: Nothing! The water remained absolutely pure, ensuring that the water you drink is as pure as the water you put in."

[itsflantastic]

Seems like bpa is just one of the culprits...something like 90% of water bottles made of plastic, even if they are free of bpa, contain estrogenic compounds.
stainless steel is looking better and better

[amgc36]

Great thread. I learned something new and will definitely investigate purist and Kleen Kanteen.

William

[Lifelover]

Deer Park and a sharpie!

[Dlevy05]

I don't mean to derail the thread by this question, but not having used a kleen Kanteen, although I have many metal bottles myself - I've noticed that some have a film or some kind of coating on the inside, where the bottle meets the water. I don't know what this is for, or what it could potentially be made of. But does anyone here have an idea? Also, do the Kleen Kanteen bottles have a similar film?

[itsflantastic]

anyone have experience with these?
http://www.hydrapak.com/store-2/#ecwid:category=632677&mode=product&product=2553618

[Kontact]

I think that this is an interesting topic from a bottle perspective, but making small children carry bottles during recess is kind of awful.

For a four year old, a full water bottle is like an adult carrying around a gallon jug, and most bottle are too hard for children to open. Not very conducive to being active on the playground. I would really like to see some statistics that suggest children anywhere are dehydrating because of going a half an hour without a drink.

A water dispensor and reusable cups would make more sense if you have to provide water constantly. Which you shouldn't need to.

[cp43]

I don't mean to derail the thread by this question, but not having used a kleen Kanteen, although I have many metal bottles myself - I've noticed that some have a film or some kind of coating on the inside, where the bottle meets the water. I don't know what this is for, or what it could potentially be made of. But does anyone here have an idea? Also, do the Kleen Kanteen bottles have a similar film?

I don't know about the coating on other bottles, but I do know that Kleen Kanteen bottles don't have any lining.

I have 3 in various sizes, and really like them.

Chris

[bshell]

Many metal bottles have a PLASTIC liner so you must make sure about what you are buying.

My understanding is that many (all?) canned food items are also lined with a plastic film but I do not know.

For all of you 'coffee to go' types out there...hot coffee passing over/through the plastic lid of a transportable cup (disposable or reusable) is another likely source of contamination/leaching of god knows what.

Use glass or metal containers and utensils whenever you can. You'll be surprised how easy it is to deal with a little less "convenience".

Good for you, good for the landfill. Support those that reject single use plastics (bags, restaurant clamshells, straws, stirrers, disp. ramekins, etc.), they are everywhere!

[rice rocket]

I think that this is an interesting topic from a bottle perspective, but making small children carry bottles during recess is kind of awful.

For a four year old, a full water bottle is like an adult carrying around a gallon jug, and most bottle are too hard for children to open. Not very conducive to being active on the playground. I would really like to see some statistics that suggest children anywhere are dehydrating because of going a half an hour without a drink.

A water dispensor and reusable cups would make more sense if you have to provide water constantly. Which you shouldn't need to.

I think this man is speaking the truth.

Even reusable cups might not be the best idea, kids have supergerms and reusing cups is asking for your entire class to get sick. I hate wastefulness as much as the next guy, but you can turn this into a recycling lesson too. Have a black trash can aside a blue recycling bin, and stand next to it, whip in hand, to teach the kids how to recycle. :D