Question

Do covalent solutes dissolve in water?

Answer 1

Some do, some don't.....

Explanation:

And I might have been drinking a cup of sugared tea at the moment, and sugar is certainly a covalent compound. Since it's late here, I could also have been drinking a Scotch, (if I could afford it), which is certainly a solution of covalent ethyl alcohol in water....

Water is a polar covalent solvent, that is very good at hydrogen-bonding, (hence the alcoholic solubility), and also very good at separating ion pairs....hence its reactivity towards salts.... Nevertheless, water is quite capable of dissolving non-polar, covalently bound solutes....the oxygen content of water is evidence of this.