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The world's most precise water costs $120,000 a gallon

Standardized in Vienna in 1966, VSMOW defined the kelvin until 2019 and still calibrates precision thermometers.

Ellsworth Toohey
Aug 03, 2026
∙ Paid
Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water — Senior Airman Zachary Foster / U.S. Air Force / Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water — Senior Airman Zachary Foster / U.S. Air Force / Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

A 5-milliliter ampoule of the world's most precise water sells for $159 — about $120,000 a gallon, Signore Galilei writes. It is Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW), and labs buy it because water's freezing point varies based on its e…

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