Most of us realize how important it is to stay hydrated. We often hear the statistic that we should be drinking between 8-10 glasses of water every day and some of us even overshoot that mark. We do our best to make sure that we have water with us all of the time, regardless of whether we are sitting at home or out running errands. As it turns out, there is something you need to know if you decide to take water with you on the go.
There is something that you should never do with your water bottle when you’re out and about. Never leave it in the car! We know that it can be frustrating if you have to take your water bottle with you into the store or wherever you happen to be going but if you leave it in the car, it can produce some rather dangerous results. In fact, you might be surprised with what could happen.
IdahoPower is a Facebook group that posted a story about a man in their local area that had this problem.
Dioni Amuchastegu is a bakery technician that would take recycled plastic water bottles with him when he went to work. He was interested in doing all that he could to save the environment. He was sitting in his car on a lunch break one day when he saw smoke unexpectedly.
He turned to look at the problem and saw that light was refracted through the plastic water bottle. The day was hot and the sun was bright and it started to catch the passenger seat on fire.
“Light was just shining through the driver’s side window and shone right through (the water bottle) and burned those two spots in the seat right there.”
It is similar to light traveling through a magnifying glass and if the conditions are right, your plastic water bottle could easily start a fire. It wouldn’t be long before the fire spread through the car.
After the post went online, it went viral and was shared hundreds of times. Most people had no idea that a plastic water bottle could be so dangerous.
The best thing for you to do is to keep the plastic water bottle out of your car if you are not going to be with it. Just remove the water bottle and keep it out of the direct sunlight.
Not only are plastic water bottles a potential fire hazard, they can also damage your health. Some studies have shown that plastic water bottles can get excessively hot in the car and leach harmful chemicals into the water.
It does take a while for the water to get to dangerous levels but it certainly is something you should keep in mind. The next time you find that old water bottle on the floor of your car, you might want to get rid of it rather than drink it.
You can see more in this video:
Source: Tip Hero