Commercially Bottled Water

Basics

Americans spend billions of dollars every year on bottled water. People choose bottled water for a variety of reasons including aesthetics (e.g., taste), health concerns, or as a substitute to other beverages.

If you have questions about bottled water, make sure you are informed about where your bottled water comes from and how it has been treated. The standards for bottled water are set by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA bases its standards on the EPA standards for tap water.

• For basic information on bottled water, view EPA’s brochure on Bottled Water Basics (PDF, 1.39 mb, 7 pages).
• Read the label on your bottled water. While there is currently no standardized label for bottled water, this label may tell you about the way the bottled water is treated.
• Check the label for a toll-free number or Web page address of the company that bottled the water. This may be a source of further information.

Bottled Water & Immunocompromised Individuals

People with compromised immune systems may want to take special precautions with the water they drink. In healthy individuals, the parasite Cryptosporidium can cause illness. For those with weakened immune systems, it can cause severe illness and possibly death. Bottled Water Treatments that protect against Cryptosporidium are:

• Reverse Osmosis
• Distillation
• Filtration with an absolute 1 micron filter

For further information on Cryptosporidium, visit CDC’s Cryptosporidium: A Guide to Water Filters.

Fluoride and Bottled Water

Some bottled waters contain fluoride, and some do not. Fluoride can occur naturally in source waters used for bottling or be added. Most bottled waters contain fluoride at levels that are less than optimal for good oral health. To learn more, check out the CDC's Fact Sheet on Questions About Bottled Water and Fluoride