Im in the Atlantic Ocean off Rockaway Beach in New York, on a 36-degree day in mid-January.
The last few years have seen dozens of studies citing the benefits of cold-water swimming for longevity.
If I dont get hypothermia, I may live forever.
LIFE IN PLASTIC, NOT FANTASTICThere are up to 240,000 micro- and nanoplastics in the average liter of bottled water.Fashion Editor: Jorden Bickham.
Thats not why Im splashing in the ocean in a Speedo, though, with 20 other swimmers.
Im risking death by freezing because Im contemplating our most fetishized and most threatened natural resource.
And what better vantage from which to do it?
Im referring to humanitys water crisis.
The global market for bottled water is worth over $300 billion.
I consider asking ChatGPT for a summary.
Then I read that in the US, ChatGPT uses half a liter of water for a 20-line conversation.
The pH of water doesnt matter, says water expert Martin Riese.
Our digestive systems are acidic by design
Is it any wonder weve become obsessed with water?
Its our last hurrah!
But we need water to survive.
Dried off and settled in front of my computer, I proceed with research.
I peruse a 32-page water menu from a restaurant in Galicia, Spain, named O Lar do Leiton.
(This is obviously nothing else than a noncarbonated soda.)
Riese exuberantly offers to lead me in a virtual tasting.
Only one of the six bottles he sends me is plasticFiji water, which I recognize from airport concessions.
I had envisioned using myStanley cupfor tasting.
But even before suggesting it, I can sense his disapproval.
I set the barrel-size mug out of sight.
This is the same with water.
We are building our way up in minerality.
I pour myself a little Saratoga Spring.
Do you think its smooth on the palette, or is it bitter?
Do you think its easy to swallow, or is it super salty?
water encounters before burbling up as drinking water.
We taste Fiji waterlonger lasting on the tongue due to a high concentration of silica.
Iskld ($43 for a 12-pack), from Denmark, has a clear flavor and smell.
Its TDSa combination of magnesium and calciumis higher than the other two.
Riese peppers our tasting with bits of wisdom.
Alkaline water is a marketing ploy: The pH of water doesnt matter.
Our digestive systems are acidic by design.
You would get food poisoning every day otherwise, he says.
There are some evil companies out there who are pulling way too much water out.
But the good ones, he says, work to conserve natural resources.
But as Riese points out: Mineral water is an epicurean experience.
Our water utilities have to be constantly tested for over 90 different contaminants.
They are held to very, very rigorous standards.
Many cities test far more often than dailyWashington, DC, tests its water 30,000 times a year.
It isnt held to the same bar as tap water, but to the FDAs looser standards.
Indeed, the UNs water report contained four full pages outlining bottled-water contamination.
Have you ever wondered how astronauts drink water?
On the International Space Station, theyve been drinkingrecycled waterfor over two decades, says Loop.
The entire campus is water neutral, its aquifer recharged with every holistic visitors shower and linen change.
I decide to rank the results of all my findings, worst to best.
At the bottom, I put plastic bottled waters that are just packaged municipal water.
Above them, I put tap water, and even with it, mineral water in glass containers.
And then, at the top: recycled water?
A collaboration among several government agencies will permit Los Angeles to recycle all of its wastewater by 2035.
When it arrives, it could be whatever Ive thoughtlessly purchased at a local gas station.
This water, of course, has passed through innumerable homes and businesses and factories in Orange County.
The water is decisively drinkable.
