The lowest-scoring popular bottled water brands
Updated · Scores from third-party lab reports · How we score
The lowest-scoring popular bottled waters in our dataset are Great Value Purified Drinking Water Unflavored plastic bottle (44/100), Essentia Ionized Alkaline & Electrolyte Water Plastic Bottle (50/100) and Pure Life Purified Water with Minerals Plastic Bottle (50/100). These are the bottles to swap first if you want cleaner water without changing your routine.
A low score does not mean a water breaks the law. It means the product combines weaker factors: plastic packaging with high microplastics risk, purified municipal source water, detected contaminants close to health guidelines, or no recent third-party lab report.
Top 15 ranked
- #1
44Great Value Purified Drinking Water Unflavored plastic bottle
Great Value
Still · Plastic · No lab report · Microplastics risk: High
Strong: contaminants, mineral preservation, cap material. Weak: lab report indexed, water source, packaging material.
- #2
50Essentia Ionized Alkaline & Electrolyte Water Plastic Bottle
Essentia Water
Still · Plastic · Municipal Supply · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 9.68 · TDS 67.33 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, mineral preservation, cap material. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #3
50Pure Life Purified Water with Minerals Plastic Bottle
Pure Life
Still · Plastic · Municipal Supply · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 7.2 · TDS 40 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, mineral preservation, cap material. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #4
50Glaceau Smartwater Plastic Bottle
smartwater
Still · Polyester · Municipal Supply · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 9.5 · TDS 28 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, mineral preservation, cap material. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #5
50Aquafina Plastic Bottle
Aquafina
Still · Plastic · Municipal Supply · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 6.4
Strong: lab report indexed, mineral preservation, cap material. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #6
50Core Hydration Plastic Bottle
Core Hydration
Still · Plastic · Municipal Supply · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 7.4 · TDS 78 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, mineral preservation, cap material. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #7
55Bubly Sparkling Water Can
bubly
Flavored · Aluminum (Can) · Municipal Supply · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: Moderate · pH 4.5
Strong: lab report indexed, mineral preservation, cap material. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #8
56Fiji Artesian Water Plastic Bottle
Fiji Water
Still · Plastic · Aquifer · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 7.89 · TDS 220 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, water source, mineral preservation. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #9
56Poland Spring Water Jug
Poland Spring
Still · Plastic · Mountain Spring · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 6.85 · TDS 55 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, water source, mineral preservation. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #10
56Zephyrhill Plastic Bottle
Zephyrhills
Still · Plastic · Spring · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 7.95 · TDS 230 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, water source, mineral preservation. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #11
56Path Still Water Aluminum Bottle
Path Water
Still · Aluminum · Municipal Supply · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: Moderate · pH 7.77 · TDS 74 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, mineral preservation, cap material. Weak: contaminants, PFAS testing.
- #12
57Dasani Plastic Bottle
Dasani
Still · Plastic · Municipal Supply · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 5.6
Strong: lab report indexed, mineral preservation, cap material. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #13
57Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water Gallon
Arrowhead
Still · Plastic · Mountain Spring · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 7.5 · TDS 135.5 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, water source, mineral preservation. Weak: contaminants, packaging material, PFAS testing.
- #14
58Proud Source Spring Water Aluminum Bottle
Proud Source Water
Still · Aluminum · Mountain Spring · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: Moderate · pH 7.82 · TDS 220 ppm
Strong: lab report indexed, water source, mineral preservation. Weak: contaminants, cap material, PFAS testing.
- #15
59Evian Spring Water Plastic Bottle
Evian
Still · Plastic · Mountain Spring · Lab tested · Microplastics risk: High · pH 8.3 · TDS 326 ppm · PFAS tested
Strong: lab report indexed, water source, mineral preservation. Weak: contaminants, packaging material.
Showing the top 15 of 33. See the full water leaderboard with filters for packaging, source and lab testing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the worst bottled water to drink?
Among popular brands, Great Value Purified Drinking Water Unflavored plastic bottle (44/100) has the lowest purity score in our data. Scores reflect contaminants, source, packaging and lab transparency.
Is it safe to drink low-scoring bottled water?
Bottled water sold in the US must meet FDA standards, so these products are legal to sell. Our scores measure how close a water gets to ideal, using stricter health guidelines than legal limits plus packaging and source quality.
How are these waters scored?
Every product gets a 0–100 purity score built from a lab report being on file, contaminants detected versus legal limits and health guidelines, the water source, mineral preservation, packaging material, cap material and PFAS testing. Products without a third-party lab report cannot score high, no matter how good the marketing is.