I usually throw away the remaining water in the electric kettle before refilling it if the water is more than about a day old. In theory wouldn't boiling kill any impurities the old water might have? How long would the water stay drinkable in the kettle (assuming you boil it again before drinking)?
Is it safe to reheat old water in an electric kettle
boilingfood-safetywater
Related Solutions
Yes, it is different. Two things happen: the dissolved oxygen boils out, and whatever mineral solids are in there become concentrated as steam evaporates.
Seconds, not minutes. Just the act of pouring the water will cool it slightly. At sea-level pure water will be 100C at a full boil, the temperature will drop immediately when it's no longer being heated.
This is unscientific at best, but just for giggles I put an accurate digital thermometer into a room temperature mug, and brought a couple of cups of cups of filtered (not distilled) water to a boil in a saucepan. I poured the water into the mug and held the thermometer in the center of the mass of water. In the time it took for my thermometer to stabilize on a reading (30 seconds), the water was at 92C.
I repeated the mini-experiment using a hot mug that I had heated by boiling some water in the microwave, and pouring it out just before I poured in the boiling water from the saucepan. This time after the 30 seconds it took my thermometer to stabilize, I got 96C.
I'd say that just by doing this (with a warmed ceramic teapot), you'd have your 96C if you moved quickly.
Photo from Instructables
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Best Answer
Maybe I'm wrong, but there is no safety risk at all when boiling old water. There is however something like taste. The reason the old water is discarded is because, after boiling, it lacks oxygen and will taste stale. This is also the reason why coffee is made with 95ºC hot water, or why Moroccan tea is poured from above (to oxygenate)...
So, as long as you boil it before drinking it should be safe.