Asteroid Ice
Water is one of the most valuable resources in Desolation, and one of the most difficult to find. It is in low supply. making finding new ways to obtain it of high necessity.
Asteroid ice can be found in the astroids of the Desolate Ring, and is one such source of this water. It is difficult to obtain, as it can be hard to distinguish from afar, and traversal within the Desolate Ring is known to be risky and tough. People who are able to brave the ring or even circumvent it can make a lot of money collecting this ice.
Even once it has been filtered, water from asteroid ice does not taste particularly good. It has a metallic and somewhat salty taste, and can easily be told apart from other sources of water. As such, it is often consumed by those in lower classes, as higher-quality water sources are preserved for the upper classes.
Those who do have to drink it will often try to disguise this flavour with others. Some will add sugar or lemon to the drink, if they can afford it. Teas are quite popular among those who need to drink asteroid water, and brands such as Instalixir market powdered drinks to the populace.
Asteroid ice can be found in the astroids of the Desolate Ring, and is one such source of this water. It is difficult to obtain, as it can be hard to distinguish from afar, and traversal within the Desolate Ring is known to be risky and tough. People who are able to brave the ring or even circumvent it can make a lot of money collecting this ice.
Material
Asteroid ice almost always has a fairly high salt content, which must be filtered out to make it drinkable. It is also heavy in metals and other minerals, some of which need to be filtered out, which come from the rocks it is found on.Even once it has been filtered, water from asteroid ice does not taste particularly good. It has a metallic and somewhat salty taste, and can easily be told apart from other sources of water. As such, it is often consumed by those in lower classes, as higher-quality water sources are preserved for the upper classes.
Those who do have to drink it will often try to disguise this flavour with others. Some will add sugar or lemon to the drink, if they can afford it. Teas are quite popular among those who need to drink asteroid water, and brands such as Instalixir market powdered drinks to the populace.
This article is fascinating and I am full of questions. Does the exact taste depend on the kind of asteroid it's found on? Could someone take a sip and say "yep, lotta carbon in that asteroid, not as much phosphorus, more silicon than normal" ? Granted, it's not as if there'd be such a thing as a connoisseur of asteroid water, but I wonder if it might affect the choice of added flavoring. Do people also recycle water? What would be considered preferable to drink, asteroid water or recycled water?