This Canadian mine has the oldest water on Earth. Here's how it tastes...

The oldest water present on Earth, which dates back more than 2.6 billion years, was found flowing deep down in a mine in Canada by a team of geologists in 2016.

It was said to be the oldest water present on Earth. However, it was stumbled upon by some scientists in 2013 and among them, one member also had the guts to taste it.

For anyone tasting such water is not a suitable act and one would refrain from doing this. However, for scientists testing what they are working on is a standard act.

“If you’re a geologist who works with rocks, you’ve probablylicked a lot of rocks,” said Professor Barbara Sherwood Lollar, who headed the team, while speaking to CNN.

Also, not a very rigorous method, but tasting the water can help determine how old it is: the saltier the taste, the older it should be.

But it was definitely not safe enough to drink this water, said Lollar adding that it was also “scientifically too valuable to waste like that”. But she did dip her finger and placed it on her tongue to taste the water.

So, what was the taste of this forbidden water? “Very salty and bitter – much saltier than seawater,” as per Sherwood Lollar.

What else is known about the oldest water on Earth?

Apart from the lack of deliciousness in the water, a lot of other things were also found out about the liquid from its analysis.

“By looking at the sulphate in the water, we were able to see a fingerprint that’s indicative of the presence of life,” said Sherwood Lollar, while speaking to BBC Newsin 2016.

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“And we were able to indicate that the signal we are seeing in the fluids has to have been produced by microbiology - and most importantly has to have been produced over a very long time scale," she added.

“The microbes that produced this signature couldn’t have done it overnight," the geologist said.

“This has to be an indication that organisms have been present in these fluids on a geological timescale,” she further stated.

(With inputs from agencies)