Dear Rabbi.
I have been told that if one is in the middle of having a drink and then goes to use the bathroom, he needs to make a new bracha on the water?
Could you confirm if this is accurate?
Answer:
No, there is no obligation to make a new berachah after going to the bathroom, provided that the bathroom is in the same building or apartment.
Best wishes.
Sources:
Going from room to room while eating raises a question of a shinuy makom. If a person leaves the building while drinking, he would have to make a new berachah upon returning. However, for going from room to room the halachah is unclear, so that a new berachah is not recited. In order to avoid the doubt, one should have explicit intent when beginning to drink that he will go to other rooms of the house.
Because it is common under certain circumstances to regularly leave for the bathroom (for instance while drinking coffee in an office), it is possible that there is no need for explicit intention to do so, and this intention is implied by the actual circumstances.
Either way, a new berachah is not made upon returning.
Note that this refers to drinking, and the halahchah is somewhat different for eating foods that require a long after-berachah.
See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 178:4; Mishna Berura 178:42; Vezos Haberacha p. 62.
