Which are the safest bottled water brands in 2019? No matter whether you prefer tap water over bottled one, it is always good to know which the best choice if you need to buy it.
Water is becoming a huge issue in general, since it is one of the most essential elements for life on this planet. As the population on Earth is growing, access to safe drinking water is declining. As for now, UN data indicates that around 2.1 billion people do not have proper access to healthy and safe water, while 4.5 billion people lack normal sanitation services – the planet’s population is 7.7 billion, just for comparison.
In the USA, for example, around 85% of tap water is reported as safe. However, there are tap water issues in all states, caused by violations of Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Act, that affect as much as 77 million people countrywide. Lead, arsenic, radioactive contaminants, pathogens (bacteria and viruses), atrazine (pesticide), are just some of the hazardous substances found in tap water.
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Thus, it is no wonder that so many people turn to bottled water. In the USA, as of data from 2016, as much as 12.8 billion gallons of bottled water were sold, which was an increase of 9% compared to 2015. And the trend is still growing. That’s why we are going to go through some of the best water brands, when it comes to its quality and safety. But, is bottled water safe anyway?
Let’s start from the bottle itself. Even though many people think the plastic that the bottle is made of is instantly bad for health, it actually isn’t (that much). Bottles do release a very tiny amount of chemicals into the water inside, but this amount is theoretically not harmful for health.
However, the problems occur when the bottle is exposed to high temperatures (including sun exposure, or leaving the bottle in the car on a hot summer day). The experts note that with the rise of the temperature, plastic releases hazardous levels of antimony. On this matter, you might be sure to keep your bottle safely in the shade, but you will never know in what conditions the bottle was kept before you bought it. On this matter, you should be aware of some of the worst bottled waters on the market (and we have included some in 6 Worst Tasting Bottled Waters in America).
Considering the plastic itself, bottled water is OK to drink, as long as it was kept in good conditions. The other issue is what is inside the bottle. Apart from miscorplastic particles (which are also found in air, ground, and pretty much everywhere), harmful chemicals and bacteria are actually more frequent in bottled water than they should be. For this reason, if you chose bottled over tap water, it is really important to check out the best bottled water to drink for health. On the matter of the safest bottled water brands in 2018, you can check out the research we have done on 10 Healthiest Bottled Water Brands in 2018.
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In order to find some of the safest and healthiest bottled water brands we checked out various bottled water brands reports from the data of May this year from Consumer Report. IBWA (International Bottled Water Association) has the similar list of bottled water brands, with information on whether the companies have published the quality reports (and we have checked them out). In our research, we have included the percentage of chemicals and other physical quality parameters. As one such parameter was water pH, so we included brands with optimal pH (between 6.5 and 8.5) in order to give the insight in the best bottled water on the matter of pH values.
Of course, there will always be some controversies and different opinions and proofs for (im)putiry and safety of water. Contradictory opinions will always give enough positive as well as negative explanations why bottled water is good or bad. We have tried to see both sides and chose the safest bottled water brands nowadays.
Finally, after all these pros and cons of bottled water, proceed to our list on the next page in order to see some of the safest bottled water in 2019:
5. Glaceau Smart Water
This “smart” water is nothing special, so it seems. It is actually no better than tap water, only purified, and later mineralized. It’s probably not the tastiest bottled water out there as well, but, technically, this water is safe to drink. It is no wonder that it is also among popular bottled water brands, since it’s owned by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), and promoted by famous TV stars.
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4. Alkaline Water 88
Even though there was no official report on the quality of Alkaline Water 88 (NASDAQ:WTER), the brand holds Clear Label, which guarantees safety of a product. This water does not contain any chemical except tiny amounts of iron, zinc, calcium, and potassium which come from Himalayan salt, as the only ingredient added to the water.
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3. Nestlé Pure Life
Owned by Nestle SA (OTCMKTS:NSRGY), Nestlé Pure Life is a spring water, naturally rich in minerals and sodium. The water is cleaned and tested under strict conditions, and safe to drink.
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2. Evian
Evian is water brand is owned by a French multinational corporation Danone SA (OTC:DANOY), one among the most popular bottled water brands. According to the report from 2018, Evian water meets all regulations and standards which make it a safe bottled water brand to drink.
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1. Fiji
Fiji is owned by a private company The Wonderful Company, which has a $4.6 billion revenue. This water brand meets regulations for water quality, and quantities of potentially harmful chemicals do not exceed permitted levels. It is an artesian type of water, which means it comes from deep underground reserves. The price of a bottle of Fiji water might be slightly higher than its fellow bottled water brands, but it surely is among the safest bottled brands in 2019, and probably good paying for.
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Disclosure:None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
