Ranking The Most Common Bottled Water Brands

Today, I'm here to evaluate and offer a definitive ranking of the most controversial of commercial products: bottled water. Many argue they can't live without it, citing taste, quality, and convenience, partly due to tap water being a likely place to encounter forever chemicals in your home. Meanwhile, others claim bottling water is a complete waste of money and resources that damages the environment at every step. I'm not here to decide who's right; instead, I'm going to review the most common water brands across North America and see which one reigns supreme.

Bottled water is simply water that's been packaged in sealed containers for sale. It can come from various sources, including springs, wells, and municipal tap systems. The production process typically involves filtration and sometimes additional treatments like UV light or ozonation to ensure safety and quality. 

The bottled water industry has grown significantly in recent years, offering consumers a wide range of choices. However, this convenience comes with costs and environmental concerns due to plastic waste. In this post, I'll rank some of the most popular bottled water brands based on factors such as taste, source, and overall quality. Whether you're a casual consumer who grabs water on the go, or a bottled water connoisseur looking for their next big thing, this guide will help you navigate the options available on store shelves and make informed choices about how to stay hydrated. So here are the 15 most common bottled water brands, ranked from worst to best.

Despite coming all the way from the "heart of the Dolomites" in Italy, Acqua Azzurra water tasted only slightly better than stale swamp water (don't ask me how I know; it involves an unfortunate trip to a waterfall when I was 15). With the slogan "box save the water," this Italian water claims to be sourced in a natural environment, low in mineral content, and bottled exclusively in recycled cartons or glass.

Despite its sustainability claims, this water simply tasted murky. It had an unpleasant aftertaste and did not feel super refreshing. I suppose it would be better than nothing, but I certainly wouldn't recommend you buy this water. This water was the worst of the paper and Tetra-Pak-packaged waters I tried, but definitely not the only one with an aftertaste that was off. 

This familiar water brand comes in a really flimsy plastic bottle. There is no definitive source for the water stated on the package; in fact, it could come from pretty much anywhere in the country in which you buy it. Aquafina doesn't keep the fact that its water is just glorified tap water a secret. Its website clearly states that Aquafina starts as regular tap water, which is then cleaned through a "rigorous" purification process of reverse osmosis, which results in 0.3 ppm of fluoride ions. (For reference, 0.7 ppm is the optimal fluoride level recommended by The US Public Health Service (USPHS).)

This was the only brand to have noticeable bubbles in it when you poured it into a glass, a harmless sign of the process of nitrogen and oxygen being released, alongside a less harmless but certainly unwelcome sour flavor that leaves the mouth feeling parched and unpleasant, like you need more water to wash it out. All in all, I would definitely not recommend you buy this water, ever, as you'd likely be better off just drinking from your tap. Though it is probably a suitable enough water for cooking.

The next water to taste mildly unpleasant was Essentia, whose promise of "hydration unlimited" belies a weak grasp of grammar more than an actual understanding of what good water tastes like. Essentia sells "ionizer alkaline water" with a 9.5 pH or higher to those willing to shell out about $3 for water that makes a lot of promises. The brand's logo looks like a medical symbol — and in fact, both Action and Essentia, two of the water brands we've tested that add pH to their water, use a plus sign somehow in their logo, likely alluding to the fact this water had some magic voodoo added to it. 

Essentia claims to have "remineralized treated water through a reverse osmosis process," and they've somehow managed to lose me again amidst words that are rarely seen outside of a Ph.D. in biochemistry. Their water, perhaps unsurprisingly, mostly just tasted like water, with a mildly chemical aftertaste that reminded me of citric acid.

Boxed Water, with offices and production points from Concord, Connecticut to Newport Beach, California, makes a lot of claims about sustainability. The brand aims to "take on the plastic industry" and be the first sustainable packaged water alternative, claiming that its containers are made from "92% renewable materials, mostly paper," including the cap. It states its water comes from a "source close to our consumers," likely meaning your local taps, and is then purified through an "eight-step water purification process." 

The brand also invites people to share images of the water carton in exchange for two trees being planted in the national forest with the National Forest Foundation, stating that 1.4 million trees have already been planted under their benevolent auspice. Despite all this clever PR spinning, Boxed Water tastes surprisingly strange, with a bit of an aftertaste and an unpleasant mouthfeel. I guess sustainable doesn't mean tasty. It just may be fine for cooking while camping, though!

Flow is a Canadian brand of water that originates in an "artesian spring" and comes in "eco-friendly packaging." This mineral water claims to have a natural alkaline pH of around 8.1 and a pure taste. It also claims to be either 67% renewable, be made out of 67% renewable materials, or both — the packaging is not clear on these commitments.

While they may get points for sustainability, Flow water tastes almost nonexistent and somehow leaves you thirsty. There's a weird dryness in the mouth after you drink it, making you feel like you need to keep drinking it in the hopes of quenching your thirst — not unlike commercial soda. 

Ahh, Dasani — this flimsy Coca-Cola Company plastic bottle that is ubiquitous in vending machines throughout North America somehow managed to surprise us. This brand claims its bottles are made of 100% recycled PET plastic and that the water is kosher/pareve (made from kosher ingredients and does not contain meat or dairy). However, it has a long ingredient list, which immediately put me on edge. 

Ultimately, this water tastes very flat and uninteresting, which is not necessarily a bad thing for water, all things considered. Coming in at about two-thirds the way down on the list, this water is a solid C-level contender in the battle of bottled waters.

If you were brought up in North America on a steady diet of '90s rom-coms that somehow led you to believe that everything French is fancy, you may see Evian as synonymous with quality and good taste — but this water is here to prove you wrong. 

The water is packaged in a plastic bottle of dubious quality, and the brand claims it comes from the French Alps, which naturally enhances it with electrolytes, minerals, and a 7.2 pH — a number meaning it is close to being considered "pure," with no acidic or alkaline properties. However, that does not seem to correlate to the actual taste of the water. It tastes clean but a bit sour at the end, and not in a really pleasant way. Halfway through our taste tests, this water felt remarkably unenjoyable and signified a definitive turning point for the quality of water to follow. 

Another middle-of-the-road contender that surprised me was Nestlé, whose Pure Life brand was sold to an Ontario-based company in Canada a few years back. Despite coming in a flimsy plastic bottle, this water tasted very clean and neutral, though a bit flat. 

Pure Life claims to come from a natural spring, with a mineral salt content of 552 ppm and 0.4 ppm of fluoride ions, as shown on its label. At a very affordable price, this water may be the best bang for your buck. 

I admit that after tasting Essentia, my expectations for pH-added water were not high. Action Alkaline Water comes in a sturdy-feeling round plastic bottle that is very similar to the other boosted waters. It is labeled as being "mineralized treated water" with a 9.5 pH that "goes through a multi-stage purification process." It has no sodium but does have electrolytes added for taste. 

Despite the pseudo-scientific claims, this water feels clean in the mouth and is actually refreshing, and there's an almost sour aftertaste that is surprisingly really pleasant.

Smartwater, the premium water from Coca-Cola Co., comes in two forms: original and alkaline. And truth be told, both impressed me. Smartwater claims to be made through a "vapor distillation process" that is supposed to replicate the naturally occurring cycle of rain, where water evaporates during high temperatures and then cools down until it drips back in liquid form. 

With two cycles of filtration, added electrolytes, and an added pH of 9.5, this water had a clean taste and came in a plastic bottle similar to LIFE WTR, but sturdier. The packaging described it to be a "vapor distilled ionized water beverage with antioxidant selenium." This made me wonder if I was drinking water, taking a doctor-prescribed medicine, or participating in a futuristic alien experiment. Despite this, the water tasted good.

The next contender in line that pulls from Earth's natural resources to extract the purest possible beverage for us to enjoy is Icelandic Glacial water. And boy, did this water taste good. 

With a pH of 8.4, this natural spring water from Iceland comes in a beautiful plastic bottle shaped like an iceberg and looks pretty enough to reuse as a vase in your Pinterest-ready apartment. This water claims to come "direct from Iceland's legendary 5,000-year old Ölfus Spring ... filtered through ancient lava rock." This is some exceptionally clean-tasting water that doesn't feel flat and somehow seems interesting for just being water.

The original Smartwater bottle tasted even better than the Alkaline one. The water is treated with minerals and has added electrolytes for taste. It also claims to have a purely balanced pH of what is likely 7 (though the number is not listed). 

It comes in a sturdy plastic bottle, and is supposed to have 20 to 35 ppm of mineral salts and zero ppm of fluoride ions. The water tastes refreshingly clean but with a mild lemony aftertaste that leaves you feeling, for lack of a better term, refreshed. The water leaves the mouth feeling wet, which is probably what you want from water.

Agua de Luso, a Portuguese mineral water directly from Luso Springs is impressively cheap but can be harder to find, despite its 170-year history. It claims to have dissolved mineral salts of around 42 ppm and fluoride ions measuring less than 0.08 ppm. 

The water comes in a plastic bottle that feels rather sturdy, despite its very old-school appearance with the ubiquitous lines embedded in the bottle to replicate waves. Luso also sells water in glass bottles that are 100% recyclable, and even a 10-liter Ecopack that is suitable for storage in a typical fridge. As befitting a European bottle, the plastic cap does not directly come off, which is probably the most interesting feature of this water — but in a good way. This water tastes rather refreshing, with a mild minty aftertaste.

One of the most maligned waters in the water bottle industry is celebrity darling FIJI Water. Believe me when I say, I wanted to hate this water, because water that claims to come from the Fiji Islands ... in a pristine rainforest is not actually a good product if you're worried about sustainability and not making a lasting impact on the Earth. But this water tasted great. So great that I had to go back and forth with my No. 1 ranked water to establish which actually tasted better, and it only came in second by a tiny imperceptible margin of one additional taste tester's mild preference. 

This water comes packaged in a square bottle, which is great for transport purposes and also feels more durable. Fiji water has a clean and flat taste like pure water, which sounds like it should be a given but is actually a rare commodity in the world of bottled water.

LIFEWTR, from industry giant PepsiCo, describes its product as a "premium bottled water experience." This water comes in a fairly rigid plastic bottle with rotating artist-designed packaging, that is made from 100% recycled and recyclable materials. 

Upon first taste, the water has a somewhat refreshing but salty aftertaste that actually made it more interesting, refreshing, and appealing, causing you to go back for more. This water claims to be purified, pH balanced to a range of 6.4 to 7.4, and with magnesium sulfate and potassium bicarbonate added for taste. All in all, this was the best water I tasted, with a beautiful bottle that highlighted the work of unique modern artists. Premium or not, LIFEWTR certainly is water worth seeking out.

Let me be honest with you: finding, tasting, and then ranking 15 brands of bottled water was no easy feat. For starters, many stores tend to carry the same five or six brands of water, and you have to visit many, many stores to assemble 15 brands. 

Second, most bottled water just tastes like water. This may seem obvious, and my first sip of each glass revealed precisely that answer — there's just not much to say about bottled water. That is, until I began comparing the water to each other and the world of differences became obvious. Some water tasted clean and fresh, while others were murky and had noticeable differences in appearance and alkalinity. 

After letting two other taste testers weigh in, we did our best to evaluate the water based on taste, looks (clarity level), stated alkalinity, packaging, size (for transport purposes), and of course, price. The results surprised us, and hopefully, will be useful to you the next time you hit the store in search of some refreshments.