"Water, water, everywhere"

I have always been fascinated by the effect of water on the human body. Our two daughters tease me that, if they are ever going anywhere, I always ask whether they have got any water. But I have good reason. When you were born you emerged from an isotonic sac of liquid; when you die your body will dry out and you will lose more than 55% of your body weight. In between you will have varying levels of water in your body.

If you have too little water you will get headaches and/or become woozy. Many years ago, on an Army training exercise on a hot summer’s day, I used up all the water in my water bottle. I later became unsettlingly disorientated. From then on I always carried a second water bottle. I do not recall ever using the second one but it gave me peace of mind.

Some years later in Spain, again on a hot day, I felt woozy. I did not have any water with me so when I got to a stream I drank a lot. Puzzlingly, I then felt worse. Later, I realised that I was suffering from a lack of salt, not water. (I suspect that this was the reason why a few year ago, on an exceptionally hot day, the two soldiers died on the SAS selection course in Wales. I have never been able to get my hands on the official report).

Wise employers know that employees work better if they are fully hydrated. So they provide instant hot water, cold water and a range of squash.

Given the choice between water and food, always take the water. You need additional water for your body to digest food. Consequently, if you are in a lifeboat with food but with no water, official guidance is to throw the food overboard in case you are tempted to eat it. You can last a surprisingly long time with water but no food. 40-60 days is possible if you make little movement. If you do not believe me look at how long the IRA hunger strikers lasted in the 1980s.

You last a worryingly short time without water. You would be lucky to survive any longer than 3 to 4 days. I can remember reading about a couple in Germany who had a romantic tryst in the office lift just before the start of the Christmas holiday. For some reason they were unable to get out of the lift and were both found dead when the office reopened after the Christmas break. They will undoubtedly have died of dehydration within 3 to 4 days.

As readers of my previous posts may recall I run survival weekends for children. On those I always try to impress on those attending the importance of being fully hydrated. I am always irritated by how some restaurants do not allow you to top up your water glass with a bottle of jug of water on your own (and you must rely on the waiter’s service). Incidentally, if you are drinking wine you should always drink at least an equivalent amount of water. The French know this. As a chilling aside I can foresee that, partly because of global warming, wars will be fought over access to water.

When I was looking around for a suitable title for this piece, I came across the following quotation from an article on value by the economist, Adam Smith

“Nothing is more important than water”.

I preferred to use as a title the quotation above from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Coleridge, but I cannot put it any better than Adam Smith.