The taste of water: Sensory perception and the making of an industrialized beverage

Research output: Book/ReportBook

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Have you ever wondered why your tap water tastes the way it does? The Taste of Water explores the increasing erasure of tastes from drinking water over the twentieth century. It asks how dramatic changes in municipal water treatment have altered consumers' awareness of the environment their water comes from. Through examining the development of sensory expertise in the United States and France, this unique history uncovers the foundational role of palatability in shaping Western water treatment processes. By focusing on the relationship between taste and the environment, Christy Spackman shows how efforts to erase unwanted tastes and smells have transformed water into a highly industrialized food product divorced from its origins. The Taste of Water invites readers to question their own assumptions about what water does and should naturally taste like while exposing them to the invisible-but substantial-sensory labor involved in creating tap water.

Original languageEnglish (US)
PublisherUniversity of California Press
Number of pages289
ISBN (Electronic)9780520393561
ISBN (Print)9780520393554
StatePublished - Dec 5 2023

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
  • General Environmental Science
  • General Social Sciences
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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