Do you use public drinking fountains?

[Jolt]

I DO know someone who got very sick from drinking water from a frame-mounted water bottle. You do know that if you ride through water, whatever's in that water is now on the valve of your water bottle ... reclaimed water in the suburbs, dogsh*t and automotive chemicals in the city, cow and pig manure and ag chemicals in the country. But I still drink from my water bottle, and so does everyone else I know.

"Yecch...this tastes like crap!!!" All smart-azzery aside, that is a good point that I hadn't thought of. Maybe that's why they make some water bottles with the flip top cover over the valve.

[Owlie]

That, I think, is the big advantage with the valve on the Camelbak podium bottles over the conventional valve found on a lot of bottles. I still think the Polar bottles are better insulated, but it turns out that the lids from the big Podium bottles fit the 24oz Polar bottles.

[nuliajuk]

I'm sure I've seen water bottles with a flip-off cap over the valve somewhere. Can't remember who makes them, though.

[Crankin]

I can't believe this thread is still going.

[Owlie]

I can't believe this thread is still going.

Maybe not the best phrase to use, given the Campylobacter mentioned upthread...

[GLC1968]

I drink from public fountains all the time. I fill water bottles from them as well (except in FL where the water tastes awful to me!). Somehow, outdoors fountains seem safer to me than indoors ones...maybe because fresh air seems better than stale, recycled air? Who knows.

There was more than once that I accidentally got sprayed in the face with chicken crap laced water when cleaning out our coops and I never got sick. Of course, our birds were healthy but you never know. I also make my own mayo with raw eggs. I can my own stuff and eat it two years later. I put things in the crock pot in the morning but don't turn it on until noon. I leave my lunch on my desk instead of putting in the fridge (it is insulated). Oh the horror!

I also travel a lot for work. I touch a lot of stuff around a lot of people...many of whom are sick and oblivious as to how to keep their germs to themselves. Eh. I don't get sick often and when I do, it's mild.

I think I have a pretty awesome immune system and it's probably a good thing since clearly, I'm kind of the opposite of a germaphobe!

[ny biker]

I don't get sick often and when I do, it's mild.

Unfortunately not everyone reacts like that. I've had experiences where everyone at work gets sick and is better after a week, while I'm still coughing up parts of my lungs three weeks later. This is why I developed my germaphobe habits.