# Do you dislike/hate drinking plain water? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749 "2009-06-04T21:51:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/101 "2009-06-08T21:17:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > No, you’re wrong, sorry. > > I was in the Army. I’ve been pretty goddamned thirsty after 16-hour route marches, day-long section and platoon attack practices in 90degree heat, the whole nine yards. I drank a lot of water on those days. And I disliked every single drop of it. I simply don’t believe that. Maybe I read it wrong. You are talking about bottled water, rifgt? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/102 "2009-06-08T21:27:54Z")
I believe it. I will force down water if i’m in dire straits, but you can’t force me to like it! ---
**Author:** ![Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frustrated_Wonderer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/103 "2009-06-08T21:32:42Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I believe it. I will force down water if i’m in dire straits, but you can’t force me to like it! Is that Fiji water bottle Ad I’m seeing above your post on purpose? Or am I seeing stuff? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/104 "2009-06-08T21:40:03Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I believe it. I will force down water if i’m in dire straits, but you can’t force me to like it! Only your own dehydrating body can force you. Not me! 😉 You do realize that there’s water in _everything_ you drink, right. Is it that water doesn’t taste like cool aid? Honest, I don’t know how anyone can hate the taste of something that has no taste. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/105 "2009-06-08T23:21:36Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I simply don’t believe that. Maybe I read it wrong. You are talking about bottled water, rifgt? Bottled. Fresh. Taps. Filtered. Whatever. I was in the Forces long enough, believe me. I don’t like the taste of water, no matter how thirsty I am. I’ll drink it because it’s good for me and it’s cheaper if not bottled, but I don’t like the taste. And yes, it has a taste. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/106 "2009-06-09T20:15:07Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Bottled. Fresh. Taps. Filtered. Whatever. I was in the Forces long enough, believe me. I don’t like the taste of water, no matter how thirsty I am. I’ll drink it because it’s good for me and it’s cheaper if not bottled, but I don’t like the taste. And yes, it has a taste. No, water does not have a taste. I’ll cite wiki: > [@](#): > > Water can dissolve many different substances, giving it varying tastes and odors. In fact, humans and other animals have developed senses which are, to a degree, able to evaluate the potability of water, avoiding water that is too salty or putrid. Humans also tend to prefer cold water to lukewarm water; cold water is likely to contain fewer microbes. **The taste advertised in spring water or mineral water derives from the minerals dissolved in it, as pure H2O is tasteless and odorless.** As such, purity in spring and mineral water refers to absence of toxins, pollutants, and microbes. Bolding mine. What you perceive as taste is likely feel. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/107 "2009-06-09T20:48:00Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > No, water does not have a taste. I’ll cite wiki: You do realize this is a ridiculous statement? Taste is, by definition, a perception; it is not an immutable property of a substance. If I (or the many other people who say they don’t like the taste of water) think it has a taste, then by definition it has a taste. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/108 "2009-06-09T21:17:10Z")
How often are we drinking “pure H2O”, even with filtering? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/109 "2009-06-09T22:10:31Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > How often are we drinking “pure H2O”, even with filtering? A lot. Not me, I drink my excellent tap water. But the ones that use “reverse osmosis” and other types of purification sell you pure water. The are even “botique” water stores that specialize in pure water. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/110 "2009-06-09T22:21:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You do realize this is a ridiculous statement? > > Taste is, by definition, a perception; it is not an immutable property of a substance. If I (or the many other people who say they don’t like the taste of water) think it has a taste, then by definition it has a taste. I think you mean “flavor”. Taste is the effect of substances mostly upon your taste buds. Chemicals, etc. BTW; you can’t punctuate a statement with a question mark, as you did above. I guess you meant “Do you realize…etc”. Time for me to go home. Did you read the wiki quote? Many other sources agree. Water is tasteless and odorless. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/111 "2009-06-09T22:28:48Z")
There are a number of liquids I don’t mind drinking at room temperature. Diet iced tea is one (Snapple has some excellent ones), some Welch’s Diet “fruit drinks” is another. I like water when it’s filtered (we have something like a Brita filter for our fridge) and _cold_. Cold is the operative word. When I go to bed at night, I take a non-carbonated, calorie-free (or nearly so) drink with me, because when I wake up to pee in the middle of the night, I feel thirsty. I drink that during the night. When I get up in the morning, though, my first stop after the bathroom is the fridge for a nice glass of _really cold_ filtered water. It is _the_ thirst-quencher. However, if it’s room temperature, it’s almost nausea-inducing. It’s fine if it’s icy cold tap water, as long as it’s not from a place where the water tastes sulfurous. Some here have asserted that we are spoiled. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know _I_ am. I am spoiled by hot water at the twist of a knob, water flow at the turn of a faucet, electricity at the touch of a switch, any number of things. I’m spoiled. I’ll admit it. I’ll also admit that given a choice between dying of dehydration and drinking urine, I’ll take the urine. But none of that changes how I feel about room-temperature water. ---
**Author:** ![metronome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@metronome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metronome)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/112 "2009-06-09T22:35:21Z")
I hate some water, if that counts? I got a filter for my tap to stop it from tasting like metal. Now I’ve stopped drinking soda as much. Soda doesn’t help me feel as not-thirsty and also makes my stomach look poofy and pregnant, though I still like a little fizz once in a while. At work, I drink about 3-4 solo cups of water from the cooler every shift. When I’m not at work but I’m out and about all day, I’ll buy a bottle in the morning and refill it from the coldest fountains I can find when I get thirsty. My real water hate is for drinking fountains. They taste like pool water, but if I find a cold fountain and drink the water fast enough, I don’t taste the chlorine so much. I had some plastic water bottles, but they always take on the odor and flavor of my dishwashing detergent after a couple of weeks… PLEH! I recycle the purchased bottles whenever I can, at least. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/113 "2009-06-10T03:12:55Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > No, water does not have a taste. I’ll cite wiki[.] You kind of provide support that _drinking_ water does have taste. You’d need deionized, filtered water to remove the things that provide taste. Since there’s no common, mass market drinking water (or municipal water) that meets the “pure” description, then all water has taste. It’s disingenuous to say that the water doesn’t have taste, but that instead it’s the minerals. By that definition, Coca Cola has no taste; Kool-Aid has no taste; and Bud Light has no taste (though, I might be willing to agree with you on the last example). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/114 "2009-06-10T12:54:04Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > You kind of provide support that _drinking_ water does have taste. You’d need deionized, filtered water to remove the things that provide taste. Since there’s no common, mass market drinking water (or municipal water) that meets the “pure” description, then all water has taste. It’s disingenuous to say that the water doesn’t have taste, but that instead it’s the minerals. By that definition, Coca Cola has no taste; Kool-Aid has no taste; and Bud Light has no taste (though, I might be willing to agree with you on the last example). Your comparisons are poor. Nobody calls any of those things “water”, though they are, mostly. There are\* flavored\* waters, “flavored” being the key word here. If you buy one of the pure waters, let it get close to body temperature (the temp inside your mouth), you’ll find it tasteless when you drink it. You probably won’t like it, but that’s due to temperature. I don’t know why it’s so hard to accept that water is odorless and tasteless when there’s so much evidence that it is. And common sense. People here are claiming that pure water has taste. It simply does not. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/115 "2009-06-10T13:57:00Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Your comparisons are poor. Nobody calls any of those things “water”, though they are, mostly. There are\* flavored\* waters, “flavored” being the key word here. > If you buy one of the pure waters, let it get close to body temperature (the temp inside your mouth), you’ll find it tasteless when you drink it. You probably won’t like it, but that’s due to temperature. > I don’t know why it’s so hard to accept that water is odorless and tasteless when there’s so much evidence that it is. And common sense. People here are claiming that pure water has taste. It simply does not. I don’t think anyone has flat-out disputed that “pure water” is tasteless. I know that intellectually. I’ve had pure water. You’re right. What I would dispute is that purified water is widely purchased for human consumption. But I’d be wrong, because a quick check indicates that 25% of the bottled-water market consists of purified water. :smack: When counting the 75% of non-purified bottled drinking water (spring, mineral, natural, etc.), plus natural sources (wells, etc.), plus municipal water systems, it’s still very safe to say that the vast, vast majority of drinking water in the United States does, in fact, have a perceptable taste to it. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749/116 "2009-06-10T21:56:14Z")
Ah, the tyranny of the majority! 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-dislike-hate-drinking-plain-water/498749.md?page=5)