The 20 Worst Bottled Water Brands in the World (2023)

As the most important element to a person’s diet, water has proven to be more than just a basic need. Without it, nothing can survive. Even people who claim they don’t drink water aren’t providing accurate enough information as even in soda drinks, alcohol, and a variety of other beverage options, water is always the core ingredient involved. This is why it is essential that the world’s most valuable resource needs to be treated with as much respect as possible. In many parts of the world, access to good clean water isn’t always so easy to come by. This reality also includes nations and regions that are regarded as the world’s wealthiest as pollutants have found their way into absolutely everything it can access, including water.

The Bottling Water Game

Understanding the importance of good, quality water needing to be accessed at all times, several bottling companies have jumped into the circus of manufacturing and selling bottled water. Knowing some people are willing to pay good money on water that is deemed superior to tap water, many brands such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, and so many more have all jumped into the ring of commercializing their brand of bottled water to a consumer market that demands it. It is a highly competitive market that has seen some bottling companies excel at what they do while others flounder. Some of the companies that are in the business of selling their brand of bottled water have also found themselves in hot water against environmentalists, conspiracy theorists, and political activists.

20. Icelandic Glacial Water

While alkaline is supposed to be good for the body, its bitter taste leaves much to be desired. When ice-cold, Icelandic Glacial Water seems to nullify the bitterness. However, anything less than near-frozen water from this bottle and the quality just isn’t the same.

19. Arrowhead

Despite claims, Arrowhead gets its bottled water product from the San Bernardino National Forest, it is agreed by many consumers who’ve tasted the water find it to be unimpressive. According to the Environmental Working Group that tested the water, it was given a Grade C store. This is not considered a good score.

18. Glaceau Smart Water

From Coca-Cola is Glaceau Smart Water, which is anything but smart. Despite celebrities promoting the brand, consumers have found it to be among the worst bottled water products they’ve ever tasted. They blame this on the electrolytes, which were apparently not added in a smart enough manner that would make this a better quality product. According to the Environmental Working Group, the grade of C is the best this water brand gets.

17. Poland Springs

Nestle makes the most amount of bottled water products in the world. As a corporation, it owns Poland Springs, as well as a multitude of other companies who are in the practice of sourcing water to be bottled and sold for consumer consumption. Already facing criticism for questionable business practices by environmentalists and special interest groups, Nestle’s Poland Springs brand is among many connected to the company that has been passing the state of Maine’s groundwater as natural spring water. In truth, this makes bottled water products such as Poland Springs no better than drinking regular tap water for the most part.

16. Penta

Whatever process Penta claims to put their bottled water products through has the company’s name consistently dragged through the mud as scores of lawsuits have been filed against them. Despite Penta’s claims they use the least amount of metals and salts in the water, the process for the consumer market, enough reason has been put into motion to suggest this isn’t the case at all. Until Penta can clear the matter up and prove the water they process is as clean and pure as suggested, they will continue to find its name in the muddy waters of “do not buy” lists.

15. Eternal Water

First off, Eternal Water’s claim that the water it resources for bottling comes from an ancient rock in a manner where it’s simply collected and bottled at the source. This is simply not true. The company pumps the water out and into a tanker truck, which then is brought to a bottling facility. It’s then chlorinated for transport and de-chlorinated at the facility before going into a bottle to be shelved and sold. This proves the water is not as naturally produced as the company claims.

14. Crystal Geyser Natural Alpine Spring Water

Like so many bottled water brands, Crystal Geyser claims its water is bottled at the source. Yet, like so many other bottling companies who stake this claim, this is not the case. There is still a transportation process, along with a treatment process, that’s involved. It’s not a favorite brand among consumers of bottled water as many compare it to be no better than regular tap water. As far as grade levels go, the Environmental Working Group gave Crystal Geyser Natural Alpine Spring Water an F.

13. Just Water

Some critics think it’s not just water, but something else. Humor among some of the consumers who’ve shared stories about their experience of Just Water suggests maybe the packaging has somehow messed with what could have been a quality product at the start but is no longer the case now.

12. Sweet Springs Valley Water Company

On a government report issued in May 2018, Sweet Springs Valley Water Company from West Virginia was discovered to have dangerous levels of E. coli found in their bottled water products. Despite what started out as suspicion, the water bottle brand did not pull their product line from the shelves until after it was confirmed there bacteria content found in their product was too dangerous to be sold. There were no follow-up tests conducted since then to determine whether or not this bottled water brand truly has cleaned its act up or not. Until this takes place, any bottled water brand coming from Sweet Springs Valley Water Company should be regarded with caution. The fact this company chose not to automatically pull their product line as a safety measure to ensure there were no serious illnesses or fatalities E. coli has been known to victimize, does not paint a good picture for them. However, the fault doesn’t entirely rest on their shoulders either. When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was aware of the situation and a rather watery solution was suggested, nothing was done about the matter and the public was kept in the dark, at least according to the sources reported by Consumer Reports https://www.consumerreports.org/bottled-water/the-fda-knew-the-bottled-water-was-contaminated-the-public-didnt-a1369288533/).

11. Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water

Nestle’s Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water was established by the Environmental Working Group to have a less than satisfactory D rating for its water quality. It is one of many bottling brands owned by the Nestle corporation that is constantly under scrutiny for a mix of questionable business practices, as well as the genuine quality of the water and the true location of its resources.

10. Ice Mountain Natural Spring Water

Ice Mountain Natural Spring Water is one of many bottling brands owned by Nestle. Like the rest of the products within this niche market Nestle operates, there is a considerable amount of doubt about where the water really comes from, how it’s processed, and at what expense is this to the municipalities it’s drawn from. Over a quarter of the bottled water products, Nestle sells for profit have been confirmed to be sourced directly out of tap water.

9. Starkey Spring Water

According to Consumer Reports after testing forty-five different brands of bottled water, the vote for the worst product recognized StarkeySpring Water for this honor. It has three times the amount of arsenic found within the bottled product compared to the rest tested. This is alarmingly high for consumption of what is a well-established toxic chemical. Starkey Spring Water has been sold by Whole Foods for five years. For Starkey, the discovery of bottling and selling what has often been deemed unsafe drinking water has been on more than one occasion. According to Eat This, in 2019 Starkey had a 10.1 ppb level, which exceeds the federally allowed limit.

8. Ozark Natural Spring Water

Supposedly sourced out of a few springs from Texas, what’s supposed to be natural water no longer seems to be the case when there is a list of ingredients featured on the label. A practice many bottling companies do with their bottled water products in an attempt to make it taste better, usually, it’s best to leave the product alone. Pure water isn’t supposed to have some special taste that separates it from the rest. It’s supposed to be cure, crisp, and natural.

7. Life WTR

If Life WTR spent as much time focusing on the quality of water as they do on the fancy labels, odds are they’d have a better product. The water tastes too metallic, which takes away the art of what good, quality bottled water is supposed to be.

6. Aquafina

Pepsi Co. is one of the most popular brand names when it comes to soft drinks as the company has a strong fan following with this particular product. However, when it comes to Aquafina, the bottled water coming from this brand, the overall opinion of it is not so favorable. Among most consumer-related polls, Aquafina is consistently ranked as the worst tasting of the brand there is due to the odd smell and taste that emits from each bottle. The pH value of this product is at six and comes from the resources of municipalities it has access to. For years, Aquafina has continued to be one of the least favorite bottled water options among consumers and yet there seems to be no genuine effort to pull its name out of the mud to fix this. They even admit Aquafina comes from tap water and has believed it’s okay to sell it as something better than that.

5. Dasani

While Coca-Cola may seem to excel at making highly favored soft drinks, this is not the case when it comes to its brand of bottled water. The pH level is at 4.5, plus it has an odd bitter taste that’s often described as too chemical. Unlike quality mineral water products, the minerals involved with Dasani are made from a lab, which disqualifies this bottled water from being considered a natural product, which is what water is supposed to be. Many consumers, when they can, will purposely avoid purchasing Dasani as they not only have trust issues with it, but previous users have bluntly explained they hate the taste.

4. Nestle Pure Life

Despite being the largest bottled water corporation in the world, it is not by any means a trustworthy brand. Consumers that don’t know any better who take the words of advertisers and lobbyists at face value may not realize that over a quarter amount of water bottled and sold by Nestle comes straight from the water used by local municipalities. There is no treatment done to this water, which makes it no better than tap water. Furthermore, Nestle constantly finds its name in hot water against environmentalists, conspiracy theorists, and political activists who not only question the quality of water Nestle sells to the public, but their ethical conduct as well. On several occasions, Nestle has found itself in hot water when both rumor and confirmation has it they’ve accessed water sources with either expired licensing agreements, or none that were drawn up at all. According to Water Wars (https://waterwars.news/2021-05-05-california-nestle-stealing-groundwater-corporate-profit.html), the state of California has since approached Nestle to hold them accountable for business practices that have been deemed questionable.

3. Deer Park Natural Spring Water

One of Nestle’s bottled water products, Deer Park Natural Spring Water, don’t even get a passable grade with the Environmental Working Group as this brand gets a D at best. Furthermore, Nestle’s name as a bottling company constantly finds itself on the receiving end of concerned environmentalists and taxpayers who’ve been questioning their integrity for many years now. Consumers who’ve tasted the water from this brand are often criticized for its bad taste, which has some belief comes from the cheap, potentially toxic quality of the plastic the product has been placed into.

2. Propel Fitness Water

Bottled water should be a simple enough product with minimal ingredient input. It is water, so aside from something that makes the water become as pure as possible, there shouldn’t be anything put into it that is going to disqualify it as an actual bottled water product. Apparently, Propel Fitness Water fails to understand this concept as there is a long list of ingredients poured into this brand that has far more in common with a cheap soda product. Loaded with artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and sodium, the only accurate description of the label is the propel part as it’s been propelled to be anything but fitness water. There’s nothing fit about it, nor is the product clean enough to pass as quality drinking water. Insider Monkey is just one of many sites that have identified Propel Fitness Water as an inferior product compared to other brands who are in the same business they are.

1. Vitamin Water

Despite its increase in popularity, this is one bottled product that isn’t exactly what a promoted water product is supposed to be. First off, Coca-Cola Company owns this brand and this alone should raise alarm bells. This is a company that excels in selling artificially flavored beverages, whether it be in juice form or soda. The marketing genius behind Vitamin Water may work on consumers who don’t give much thought to what a quality bottled water product should be like, but for the more discerning, this brand is an insult at best. Enriched with vitamins and minerals, and the claim of natural colors and flavors makes this bottled water product has far more in common with Gatorade than it does with water. Gatorade is made from water too and is sold as Gatorade. Vitamin Water, which is loaded with fructose, is one of the unhealthiest self-proclaimed water beverages there is on the market. In addition to fructose, which has already been linked to a number of serious health issues, Vitamin Water also has the trademarked “Zero” product, which is also linked to causing negative effects on the body. In truth, Vitamin Water isn’t really qualified to be called a bottled water product as it’s anything but this.