Water guides
Straight answers to the questions people actually ask about drinking water, with numbers from our lab-data rankings.
What is the healthiest bottled water?
The healthiest bottled water brands according to third-party lab reports, plus the five things that actually separate a great water from an average one.
Microplastics in bottled water: what the research says and which brands are safest
How many microplastics are in bottled water, where they come from and which bottled water brands carry the lowest microplastics risk.
PFAS in bottled water: what to know and which brands test for it
What PFAS "forever chemicals" are, the EPA limits, whether bottled water contains them and which bottled water brands have PFAS tests with none detected.
Glass vs plastic bottled water: is glass really healthier?
We compared 729 still waters by packaging. Here is how glass, plastic and aluminum stack up on purity, microplastics and taste.
Spring water vs purified water vs mineral water: which is healthiest?
The real difference between spring, purified, mineral, artesian and alkaline water, with average purity scores for each from our lab-data ranking.
Is alkaline water good for you?
What alkaline water is, what the science says about its health claims and which alkaline water brands are actually clean according to lab data.
Bottled water vs tap water: which is safer?
Is bottled water safer than tap water? How the regulations differ, what each can contain and when a home filter beats both.