As a literary symbol, water is often associated with rebirth, cleansing, and healing. Water is essential to physical survival, is used to clean away dirt and corruption, and is used to wash wounds. Water is also present in birth in the form of amniotic fluid.

In The Testing, however, much of the water is corrupted, dirty, and poisonous. It must be tested and chemically altered before it is safe to ingest—and even then, it often does not have the pure, clean taste typically associated with water. The corrupted water in The Testing complicates the common literary symbolism by portraying this source of life as something nearly ruined by the actions of powerful people.

Despite its contamination, water remains an urgent matter for Cia and Tomas. The human body can go some time without food; depending on one’s starting body weight, a human can survive without eating for weeks or months. The human body cannot function without water for more than three days, and death is likely between 8-21 days without water.

The balance between the need for water and the dangerous condition of the available water make this symbol relevant throughout the narrative. There are two occasions when water is clean but remains unsafe.