With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes.
Add the egg, water, and vanilla and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping side of bowl well, until thoroughly combined.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the chocolate chips to the flour mixture and stir to coat. Using lowest speed of stand mixer (or by hand without the mixer if you used a handheld), gradually add the flour and chip mixture and stir until combined.
Portion the dough into 16 quarter cup (approx) portions, press them down slightly, set them on dinner plates, and cover with plastic. Chill for about 4 hours or until ready to bake.
When ready to bake, press the portions into disks about ¾ inch thick.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
To determine the best heat for these cookies, you may want to bake 2 or 3 cookies first just to get the timing right.
Arrange some of the dough rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet spacing 4 inches apart and bake in the 325 oven until they are evenly browned. This should take around 20 to 25 minutes, but check at 15.
If your oven runs hot or you are still getting cookies that are brown around the edges and underdone in the middle, try using 300 degrees and baking for a longer time (25 to 30 minutes).
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and set the sheets on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Transfer the cookies to the racks to cool completely. Bake the remaining dough in the same way.
Store cookies in the freeze to keep them crunchy.