Drinking Water

A History

By: James Salzman

Narrated by: Lee Hahn

When you turn on the tap or twist the cap, you might not give a second thought to where your drinking water comes from. But how it gets from the ground to your glass is far more complex than you might think. Is it safe to drink tap water? Should you feel guilty buying bottled water? Is your water vulnerable to terrorist attacks? With springs running dry and reservoirs emptying, where is your water going to come from in the future?

In Drinking Water, Duke professor James Salzman shows how drinking water highlights the most pressing issues of our time - from globalization and social justice to terrorism and climate change - and how humans have been wrestling with these problems for centuries.

Bloody conflicts over control of water sources stretch as far back as the Bible yet are featured in front page headlines even today. Only 50 years ago, selling bottled water sounded as ludicrous as selling bottled air. Salzman weaves all of these issues together to show just how complex a simple glass of water can be.

©2012 James Satzman (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC

Reads like a mediocre essay

While the narrator did well and the information is good, the writing felt disjointed, and the point felt missed. The whole rant at the beginning about water as a holy symbol simply didn't lead anywhere.

Some revelations about water I didn't know ...

While the story and content was interesting I struggled to finish with the narrator's lack of pizzazz and his monotone voice. I would recommend the book for the content alone and the insights a listener will gain. I liked the way the author kept the story-line moving. Also, most of my questions and concerns were addressed by sticking with the book.

Hard not to be affected by this book

We all depend on water. Without water we die. Unclean water kills about 3.4 million people per year and is among the leading causes of death in humans today. This book accomplishes the rather impressive feat of giving the reader a broad introduction to various issues associated with drinking water. In one book he manages to cover the history and myths associated with water, justice and economic issues (who gets to drink and can you charge for water), safety and health issues, terrorist issues, and last but not least, how you can help bring water to those who do not have it today.

This tendency to associate powers with water is as strong as ever in our modern society, which is partly why it is extremely profitable for companies to sell bottled water. These companies rarely shy away from shouting out grandiose claims about the properties of their water. The fact is that, with some exceptions, tap water is as good or better than bottled water which may come from contaminated springs.

In chapter 2 and chapter 7 Salzman discusses the often forgotten but extremely important issue of whether water should be considered to be an essential human right or whether it should be considered a commodity, or perhaps rather a little bit of both. Humans who don’t get water die is one very good argument for why water should be a human right. However, should we say therefore that it is not ok to sell water. It is after all not free to transport water from those who have it in excess to those who have too little. If people are allowed to earn money on water they might even work hard to build systems that allow them to transfer their commodity to their potential customers. Salzman, even if he may not say so explicitly seem to argue that a combination of these two approaches is best. The romans developed a very efficient system for delivering water to all their people, but that would not have been possible was it not for the money they earned by selling privileges (e.g. water directly into your house), to the rich. There are few things that motivate people and businesses as much as money and often the best products are achieved if people are allowed to earn money when they do deliver.

Another thing that become evident when reading this book is that there is really no such thing as clean water, only water that is clean enough. Water taste different depending on where it originates from. Almost all water, including tap water in western nations, also contain certain small concentrations of poisons such as arsenic and lead. As if that was not enough there are many kinds of bacteria that also live in our water sources. To eradicate every kind of contaminant completely from the water we drink would be excruciatingly expensive, and it would really not be worthwhile given that the human body is generally quite good at handling small amounts of contaminants (this why I am rarely convinced by alarm report saying potential carcinogen found in x - it is often (not always) negligible amounts). I guess the lesson that should be learned is that our tap water is clean (again there are exceptions), but that does not mean that it is devoid of any microbes

Apart from being a good book, it also made me realize the importance of providing clean water to those who do not have it. The benefits go very far, because not only does unclean water kill people and make them sick, it also uses up people’s time when they have to walk, sometimes several miles to get water (dirty water). Often girls in Africa have to quit school at an early age in order to spend their days fetching water. Indeed in Africa alone people spend 40 billion hours per year, fetching water. It is indeed hard not be affected by this book

Glass half-full, glass half empty

Well-balanced. Good history of water over the ages. Takes on some of the controversies. fun to hear the 8 glasses per day debunked as well as the only drink straight water debunked :-)

Appreciate the information

Good to know. Feeling a bit blue after listening. I appreciate the mass amount of research needed for this book. I can also see from many points of view the water issues after carefully listening to this book.
Thank you

Expected more from a "history" book

Would you try another book from James Salzman and/or Lee Hahn?

No

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I expected more detailed information about the water industry over the ages. More details about the mineral content in mineral water. Reads too much like a manifesto. Focuses too much on the question whether water should be a free public good or a commercial commodity.

Would you be willing to try another one of Lee Hahn’s performances?

Not a professional performance, Just reads it like a regular guy, e.g. "Vodda"

good

I would have liked to see a little bit more time spent on the subject of fluoride when you talking about water as a whole in present day more than just two sentences should be dedicated to the subject of water fluoridation

interesting and informative

book was interesting and informative. Did its job and the narration didn't take away from it or offend me in any way it was delightful

Unfortunately Missing Flint Michigan

After this book was published, James Salzman was compelled to write another chapter analyzing the disaster in Flint Michigan (which, as of this writing, has _still_ not been fixed). Unfortunately, this audobook was recorded before that chapter was written, and the absence of it is felt in many earlier chapters, when Flint's situation would provide excellent examples or counter-examples.

That said, the book is a very good popular history of drinking water, taking examples from all around the world and back into thousands of years of recorded history. Salzman's pragmatic approach considers both "water as a commodity" and "water as a human right", and keeps from taking sides, asking only whether people are getting drinking water.

I knew most of the science already, but not much of the history. And presenting both helped me understand the politics.

Required Reading

Should be required reading for highschool kids and all politicians. Very enlightening on how water has affected the way societies progressed and the way that people can be manipulated - think bottled water...