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Inspired by this revision of this answer:

There are various minhag implications with regards to drinking water. Seltzer is essentially carbonated water. So how do those minhagim apply to seltzer?

For example:

Would we say that seltzer has the same status as water in such cases?

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yydl
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    Also, one could add the halacha of being able to drink water before davening in the morning. – Tzvi Jul 03 '11 at 02:53
  • Also, Can you wash your hands using seltzer? – avi Jul 13 '11 at 14:09
  • The issue that arises with using it to wash your hands is bal tashchit. But acc to R. Eliezer the only thing you can't wash with is drinkable-wine because it's chashuv, (fruit juice is allowed) and if you don't have anything else to wash with, even wine is allowed because you need to wash before eating bread. (brachos 50b) - So seltezer would be ok to wash with, in fact it would probably be the 2nd best thing to use. – zaq Jul 14 '11 at 20:23
  • @zaq, you are presupposing a distinction between water and seltzer, of which is the issue in question. Water is also treated and filtered to get rid of bacteria and make it taste better. At least some of the process would not need to be done if it was used exclusively for non-potable purposes. Does that bump it up to the 2nd best category? – YDK Jul 14 '11 at 21:04
  • I guess filtered water could be more chashuv than tap-water, and if you have a choice of washing with tap-water or a more-expensive-filtered water made specifically for drinking, you should use the tap. in any case, seltzer is ok to wash with because it's not wine. – zaq Jul 14 '11 at 21:22
  • @zaq, I was referring to tap water. – YDK Jul 14 '11 at 21:51
  • You're asking if tap water is more chashuv than say, river water? I don't think any different level of water matters as long as it's water. But you can certainly take into account the cost of the water you're going to use to wash with compared to other sources of available water since you're just going to be pouring on the ground. – zaq Jul 14 '11 at 22:02
  • @zaq, you are somewhat undoing your distinction. If any water is water regardless of any processing to make it more palatable or more healthy to drink, why are you so sure that seltzer is in a higher category shared with, say, beer. – YDK Jul 15 '11 at 04:25

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I would think seltzer has the same status as plain water.

Carbon dioxide (or any gas) is not food and doesn't require a brucha if you "drank" the gas alone, so carbonating water would not change the fact that water is the only food you're drinking. The same could apply to any non-food-sediment like sand.

The only support I can find is this:

"Mineral Water and Spring Water taste the same as water, and therefore they have the same halachos as water."

Refer to Tzitz Eliezer 8:15:15:7, Darchei Chaim V'Sholom 298:page 91, Vezos Ha'beracha page 114:5 quoting the opinion of Horav Elyashiv Shlita. (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/weekly_torah.php?id=257)

zaq
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    I would just like to comment, that I love water and can not stand seltzer. I don't know if that affects the halacha or not. – avi Jul 13 '11 at 14:09
  • Sugar is in solution in water just like C02. I don't understand what distinction you draw between "bonded" and "mixed". Most drinks involve some solute in solution in water, whether the solute is CO2 or sugar or flavorings, etc. And CO2 changes the flavor of the water on account of the generation of carbonic acid (which changes the pH of the solution) – Curiouser Jul 14 '11 at 19:18
  • Curioser, you're right, seltzer is a solution, I thought it was just a mixture since the co2 escapes. I updated my answer to remove that part. – zaq Jul 14 '11 at 19:58
  • It is not so simple, according to recent research, that carbonated water tastes the same as non-carbonated. See the abstract here for example of a source that carbonation activates "bitter" receptors and is therefore perceived as having a different taste. – WAF Jul 14 '11 at 20:08
  • I don't think the actual taste in your mouth matters. When Moshe changed the bitter waters to sweet, it remained water. Since water is the only edible part of it that we can say a brucha on it's the only "flavor". Maybe anything edible added in like sugar would change the flavor, but co2 isn't edible and therefore it isn't a flavor. – zaq Jul 14 '11 at 20:48
  • @zaq, I would argue that the actual taste does matter. When it comes to wine for kiddush, for example, it is invalidated if it tastes like vinegar, even if it still smells like wine (Rema to Orach Chaim 272:3). Similarly, water whose taste has changed is no longer prohibited by being uncovered (Rambam, Hil. Rotze'ach 11:9) - though there, perhaps, it's not a matter of definition, but rather of the assumption that a snake won't drink such water. So, since seltzer does taste different than plain water (or at least is perceived to, per WAF's note), then maybe indeed it has a different status. – Alex Jul 14 '11 at 23:27
  • You may be right, taste is important, however I don't think the taste matters in the case of seltzer. Wine is only invalidated when it tastes like vinegar because it changes away from being wine (which needs a special brucha) and that is indicated by the taste. But with seltzer, the only real flavor can be from the water - eating co2 is not considered eating. As for water that changed taste no longer being prohibited by being uncovered, I think that is because water is one of the few liquid that can become tammeh - and if it's no longer water, then it is not required to keep it covered. – zaq Jul 15 '11 at 03:11
  • Based on your arguments so far, I'd have to say that Seltzer is not water. It is water + something else. You are trying to say that co2 gas isn't food, but neither are the chemicals which make up most drinks and most food, or the renit which helps create cheese... – avi Jul 15 '11 at 11:58
  • OK, so maybe the taste of seltzer or mineral water hasn't changed away from water enough for it to be considered not-water. – zaq Jul 15 '11 at 13:51
  • FYI, mineral water hardly ever tastes like tap water esp. if it is like the Sratogy "Vichy" water which contains barium and a high sulfur content. Seltzer has a slight taste difference from regular (tap) water. – DanF Aug 08 '19 at 18:58