Sant Khalsa : Good Water . Pure Water . Fresh Water .
By Mackenzie Leighton
Good water . Pure water . Fresh water .
The language that appears in
Sant Khalsa ’ s Western Waters photographs might sound redundant . Yet , the names of the stores hold my attention more than the images of the storefronts themselves . The need for this language requires a reimagining of water as a privileged commodity .
But what becomes of water when these descriptors — good , pure , fresh — are taken away ? Does it become bad and impure ?
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We ’ re always paying for water . It ’ s absurd that water doesn ’ t belong to us .
In parts of the world where people die of waterborne diseases every day , mistrust of water is ubiquitous . In the US , that mistrust has infiltrated into immigrant communities in the Southwest —
home to 29 % of the total US immigrant population with the majority of people coming from Mexico , Central America , and Asia — where there is a proliferation of these water stores .
“ We ’ re always paying for water ,” Khalsa says , who is based in Southern California . “ It ’ s absurd that water doesn ’ t belong to us .”
If clean water comes at a price , who does it really belong to ? Western Waters is an exploration of this question , and more . The series began in 1998 when an art installation in which Khalsa created her own bottled water company led her to the online yellow pages of retail water stores in the southwestern United States . She didn ’ t understand the purpose of these constructed sites . In most places where they were located , there was really nothing wrong with the tap water that people were drinking .
— Sant Khalsa
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