At a meeting in April in Athens, Greece, drink experts looked carefully at the liquid in their glasses. They held them up to the light. They tasted and, sometimes, spit them out into containers. And they discussed the mineral content and purity. 

四月份在希腊雅典举行的一次会议上，饮品专家仔细观察了杯子里的液体。他们把它们举到灯光下。他们品尝并有时将它们吐到容器中。他们还讨论了矿物质含量和纯度。 

But these experts were not tasting wine. Instead, they were tasting “fine water.” 

但这些专家并不是在品尝葡萄酒。相反，他们品尝的是“好水”。 

The experts are members of the Fine Water Society. They had come together in Athens for the yearly tasting competition. Their activity reflects the growing market for luxury water—with some bottles costing over $100 per liter. 

这些专家都是优质水协会的成员。他们齐聚雅典参加一年一度的品酒比赛。他们的活动反映了奢侈水市场的不断增长——有些瓶装水的价格超过每升 100 美元。

Companies collect the so-called “fine water” from sources such as volcanic rock in Hawaii, melting ice from glaciers in Norway, and drops of mist from forests in the Amazon or the island of Tasmania. The most costly water is sold in bottles made with special glass painted with artwork. 

公司从夏威夷的火山岩、挪威冰川融化的冰以及亚马逊或塔斯马尼亚岛森林的雾滴等来源收集所谓的“优质水”。最昂贵的水装在用特殊玻璃制成的瓶子里，上面涂有艺术品。

At their meeting, Fine Water Society members learned about the environments from which the water is collected. And they compare the total dissolved solids, or TDS. 

在会议上，优质水协会成员了解了取水的环境。他们还比较了总溶解固体（TDS）。 

Waters with a low TDS are like rain that has not yet touched the earth. Those with high TDS — such as Vichy mineral water from hot springs in France and Catalonia, in northeastern Spain — have high mineral content that may include calcium, magnesium, potassium or sodium, among others. 

TDS 较低的水就像尚未接触大地的雨水。那些 TDS 高的水——例如来自法国和西班牙东北部加泰罗尼亚温泉的维希矿泉水——矿物质含量很高，其中可能包括钙、镁、钾或钠等。 

A few restaurants in countries such as Spain and the United States now have menus that match food with certain kinds of fine water. Water with high TDS, for example, might go with beef. Low TDS, more like rainwater, might go with fish.

西班牙和美国等国家的一些餐馆现在提供了将食物与某些优质水相搭配的菜单。例如，TDS 高的水可能适合搭配牛肉。低 TDS，更像是雨水，可能适合鱼类。

Ganesh Iyer is an Indian businessman who has worked in the beverage, or drink, industry for years. After he saw increased interest in non-alcoholic drinks, he studied to become a drink expert, also known as a water sommelier. 

Ganesh Iyer 是一位印度商人，在饮料行业工作多年。在看到人们对非酒精饮料的兴趣日益浓厚后，他开始学习成为一名饮料专家，也称为侍水师。 

He is now the managing partner of Veen Waters India. The company bottles natural mineral water in the Himalayan country of Bhutan and sends it by truck to India. Veen Waters is mostly served in costly hotels and restaurants. It costs $6 a bottle, about a day’s pay for an Indian laborer. 

他现在是 Veen Waters India 的执行合伙人。该公司在喜马拉雅山国家不丹装瓶天然矿泉水，然后用卡车运往印度。Veen Waters 主要在昂贵的酒店和餐馆提供。每瓶售价 6 美元，相当于印度工人一天的工资。 

Veen Waters is exporting about 240,000 bottles of water into India each month. Iyer thinks the company has reached only about 10 percent of the possible market so far. 

Veen Waters 每月向印度出口约 240,000 瓶水。艾耶认为，到目前为止，该公司仅占据了潜在市场的 10% 左右。

The story of water, however, is very different for many people in India. 

然而，对于许多印度人来说，水的故事却截然不同。 

The World Bank reports that India is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. To get more water, the country has built huge plants to remove salt from seawater. Other countries, including Singapore, are collecting and cleaning up storm and wastewater to try to solve their water problems. 

世界银行报告称，印度是世界上水资源最紧张的国家之一。为了获得更多的水，该国建造了巨大的工厂来去除海水中的盐分。包括新加坡在内的其他国家正在收集和清理雨水和废水，试图解决水问题。

But these kinds of solutions are only used in some places, and the increasing need for water could lead to more disagreements.

但这些解决方案仅在某些地方使用，对水的需求不断增加可能会导致更多分歧。 

At the same time, those in the fine water industry see their activity as part of an effort to protect the environment and its clean water. 

与此同时，优质水行业的人们将他们的活动视为保护环境和清洁水的努力的一部分。

Michael Mascha is a co-founder of the Fine Water Society. He told The Associated Press, “I think what we do is we raise the awareness of water — and if you cherish something, you’re more likely to protect it.” 

迈克尔·马斯查 (Michael Mascha) 是优质水协会 (Fine Water Society) 的联合创始人。他告诉美联社，“我认为我们所做的就是提高人们对水的认识——如果你珍惜某样东西，你就更有可能保护它。”