The Sick Room's Water Store: How Long Boiled Water Keeps, and the Daily Litres That Drinking, Wounds, and Hands Require
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Boiling water in the morning and storing it for the day is the routine on which drinking, wound washing, and handwashing in a home sick room all depend. This study is a simulation from stated assumptions, not a measurement. It tracks a relative contamination index, defined in the method, as boiled water is stored covered and uncovered at stated temperatures with stated doubling times and stated additions at each opening, and it adds up the daily water demand of a fevered patient and a caregiver. Covered water starting at an index of 1.0 crosses the stated threshold index of 1000.0 after 59.79 hours at 20 °C, 29.9 hours at 30 °C, and 14.95 hours at 37 °C in the analytic calculation. Uncovered water starting at an index of 10.0 crosses after 39.86 hours, 19.93 hours, and 9.97 hours at the same temperatures. When stated additions at openings every 3.0 hours are included, the crossings come earlier: covered water at 30 °C crosses at 27 hours and uncovered water at 20 hours. The daily demand is 13.8 litres, made of 3.0 litres for drinking, 4.0 litres for wound irrigation, 4.8 litres for handwashing, and 2.0 litres for washing the patient. Rounding up, 14 litres must be boiled each day, in 2 batches of 7 litres in the stated pot, stored in a container of 20 litres, at a wood cost of 2.292 kg per day under the stated stove assumptions. A daily boiling cycle at 30 °C leaves a margin of 5.9 hours before the covered analytic crossing.
Author: Aldred, William Alexander
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225734358
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