The experimentally determined average lifetimes of electrons and ions in the dense plasma of pulsed discharges in water are reported. The lifetimes of charged particles in dense plasma are shown to be practically independent of the time. The specific lifetime values are found to lie in a vicinity of 10 −5 s and vary from 5 × 10 −6 to 3 × 10 −5 s at various discharge stages, when the parameters of discharge plasma are changed. In particular, the concentration of electrons in plasma is changed from 10 15 to 10 22 cm −3 , and the temperature from 7 × 10 3 to 64 × 10 3 K. We explain this phenomenon by the "non-realization of levels" in the radiation spectra and by the strong broadening of observed spectral lines in high microfields of dense plasma, when the latter achieve values close to intraatomic ones. Experimental data obtained for the lifetimes of charged particles are compared with the results of theoretical calculations made by various authors. K e y w o r d s: nonideal plasma, pulsed discharges in water, electric microfields, lifetime of charged particles, recombination of charged particles.