Inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) spectroscopy using hard x-rays is in principle equivalent to optical spectroscopy as long as momentum transfer can be approximated to be zero. Hence IXS spectra of liquid water which corresponds to vacuum uv absorption were measured at small energy transfers with energy resolution of 0.5 eV. The loss function was derived from the spectra and its convergence for the momentum transfer smaller than 0.28 a.u. was confirmed. The reflectance spectrum and the optical oscillator strength have been calculated from the loss function. It is shown that the optical oscillator strength of liquid water differs considerably from that of gaseous water.