There’s nothing quite like a fresh glass of water, but how fresh is it really? Believe it or not, up to half of the water you drink is older than the sun! Before our sun was born, the universe contained water, but it was feared that when a star was born nearby, the water could be obliterated into hydrogen and oxygen and the cosmic rays needed to form plentiful water again could be blocked by its solar wind. Only in rare circumstances, like our own solar system, could a sun reform new, younger water in its system after its birth.
However, recent studies of the water around us and models of how water forms in the first place have found that anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of the water in our solar system - the water we drink and bathe in - predates the sun. This is embarrassing for our container technology, as chemicals and packaging can leach into water, giving it a bad taste over time. So even though much of this water has been around longer than our solar system, it expires in just a few years.