H20 Pro

Prepared for print by Faigy Peritzman

During the summer months, I walk around with a water bottle, which I’m constantly sipping from to avoid dehydration. I never know when to say shehakol, or if I should ever say borei nefashos, since this is going on all day.

If you plan to be constantly sipping water all day long, then you recite shehakol before taking your first sip and borei nefashos after the last sip — even if many hours will have passed since you made shehakol. (Borei nefashos is recited only if at least three fluid ounces of water was drunk in a span of less than four minutes at one point during the drinking session — which in this case, is any time during the entire day.)

But this holds true only as long as you remain in the same location throughout your entire drinking session. If you change your location after beginning to drink — e.g., you leave your home or office to take a walk or drive somewhere — then recite borei nefashos before leaving your location and repeat shehakol before starting to drink again in the new location.

Does bottled water with added minerals and electrolytes need a hechsher?

No. Only flavored water requires a proper hechsher.

If I’m swimming in a private pool with only women, do I need to cover my hair?

From a purely halachic perspective, covering your hair is not required in this situation, just like the rest of your body is not properly covered when you’re swimming where only women are present. Still, many married women are careful to never allow their hair to be exposed, even when swimming with other women, and this is a praiseworthy custom to accept and uphold.