Photo: Sarah Chai

What happens to tap water when you let it sit?

As water sits out, small amounts of carbon dioxide dissolve into the water. This forms carbonic acid, which may lower the pH just slightly. Tiny amounts of other gases, like acetone and aldehydes, may dissolve in, too.

wired.com - Big Question: Why Does Tap Water Go Stale Overnight? - WIRED

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You go to sleep with a cool, fresh glass of tap water by your bed and wake up to it tasting decidedly...off. Ever so slightly more dirt-like, I’d say. Musty, heavy, or oily, others have said. The taste difference is subtle and hard to describe, in a way that leads people who haven’t noticed to claim it doesn’t exist. So naturally, I called up a scientist to sort things out. “I know exactly what you’re talking about,” says Susan Richardson, a chemist at the University of South Carolina. “Funny, I’ve been doing research on drinking water for 26 years, and I’ve never thought about this question before.” In fact, Richardson emailed several of her colleagues working at water utilities and the like, all of whom said they had never been asked this question before. “It’s the simple things that nobody thinks about,” she says. Nobody has published a study on why water goes stale overnight, as far as we know. But Richardson and her colleagues did put their scientific minds together to come up with some answers—at least, some very probable answers. I also called up a water sommelier, Martin Riese, because that’s a job that apparently exists in LA.

Going Stale

The biggest factor, says Richardson, is likely a simple, indirect one: temperature. “Like warm beer versus cold beer,” she says. The longer a beer has been outside of the fridge, the more its sourness, hoppiness, and whatever off-notes it has get amplified. Tap water comes in through pipes underground, where it is generally cooler. And plenty of us then add ice or drink refrigerated water. As water rises to room temperature, its aroma and bouquet, so to speak, really open up. “When you chill something extremely,” says Riese, “your taste palate’s completely gone.” We often use “taste” colloquially to mean “smell,” and smell is a function of molecules tickling cells in our noses. The warmer the drink, the faster the molecules are bouncing around, and the stronger the aroma. Riese always tastes his premium waters—such as Danish spring water1—at room temperature. He recommends drinking water chilled to a cool but not cool 59 degrees Fahrenheit—like, you know, a fine red wine. But temperature doesn’t tell the whole story, and more chemistry is at play. If you’ve ever successfully raised pet fish, you’d probably had to leave out tap water for chlorine to off-gas. (If you’ve ever unsuccessfully raised pet fish, that may be why.) Water treatment plants add chlorine to wipe out potentially deadly pathogens. Chlorine is volatile, and it quickly dissipates into the air. At this point, we tap water drinkers may just be conditioned to think chlorine means fresh water. “If you have something like swimming pool, that’s not good,” says Richardson. “But just a little bit of chlorine may make it seem refreshing.” (Riese, who grew up in Germany drinking unchlorinated water, disagrees here on aesthetic grounds. Much to his chagrin, LA’s water—which has to travel hundreds of miles from the mountains and the Colorado River—is heavily treated with chlorine and ammonia. “That really drives me crazy,” he says.)

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Can you drink sea water?

Drinking seawater can be deadly to humans. Seawater contains salt. When humans drink seawater, their cells are thus taking in water and salt. While humans can safely ingest small amounts of salt, the salt content in seawater is much higher than what can be processed by the human body.

oceanservice.noaa.gov - Can humans drink seawater? - NOAA's National Ocean Service

One of the instruments scientists can use to measure salinity is a CTD rosette, which measures the Conductivity (salinity), Temperature, and Depth of the water column. Seawater contains salt. When humans drink seawater, their cells are thus taking in water and salt. While humans can safely ingest small amounts of salt, the salt content in seawater is much higher than what can be processed by the human body. Additionally, when we consume salt as part of our daily diets, we also drink liquids, which help to dilute the salt and keep it at a healthy level. Living cells do depend on sodium chloride (salt) to maintain the body’s chemical balances and reactions; however, too much sodium can be deadly. Human kidneys can only make urine that is less salty than salt water. Therefore, to get rid of all the excess salt taken in by drinking seawater, you have to urinate more water than you drank. Eventually, you die of dehydration even as you become thirstier.

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