We present a comparative study of the electron momentum spectroscopy (EMS) of the valence orbitals of the water molecule in gas and liquid phases. The molecular properties of the water molecule in liquid water have been computed within the framework of the polarizable continuum model. Surprisingly, we find that, although most of the molecular properties of the water molecule do show significant differences between gas and liquid phases, the shape of the EMS profiles are almost insensitive. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.