What is the best water to drink? A no-nonsense guide

February 28, 2025. Drinking water should be the simplest choice we make in a day. Yet, if you’ve ever found yourself in the beverage aisle facing rows upon rows of bottled water options—spring, distilled, alkaline, pH-balanced—you know that it’s anything but simple.

Each bottle boasts a claim: “pure,” “electrolyte-enhanced,” “remineralized,” or “ionized for better hydration.” The sheer variety is enough to make anyone wonder: is one type of water actually better than another? And more importantly, what is the best water to drink for long-term health?

Don’t be distracted by the marketing claims. What really matters is that your water is filtered properly and does not contribute to excessive environmental waste. Let’s break down what that means and how to make an informed choice about the water you drink every day.

Deciding the best water to drink means deciphering how water is branded.

Some bottled water brands claim to offer superior hydration, while others market themselves as the purest or most mineral-rich option. But how much of it is fact, and how much is just clever branding?

Here’s a closer look at some of the most popular types of drinking water and whether they live up to their claims.

1. Spring water: naturally sourced, but not always pure

Spring water is directly sourced from underground springs and is often marketed as the “purest” option due to its natural filtration through rocks and soil. While some brands carefully filter their water to remove contaminants, however, others bottle it with minimal processing, leaving potential for pollutants or bacterial contamination.

Best for: Those who enjoy naturally mineral-rich water and are confident in their source’s filtration practices.

2. Distilled water: too pure for everyday drinking

Distilled water goes through an intense purification process, where water is boiled into vapor and condensed back into liquid, removing nearly all contaminants and minerals. This results in ultra-pure water, but drinking only distilled water can actually be problematic. Since it lacks essential minerals, it can pull minerals from your body, which may lead to imbalances over time.

Best for: Medical devices, humidifiers, or lab settings—but not as a long-term drinking solution.

3. Alkaline water: pricey gimmick or a true game-changer?

Alkaline water has a pH level higher than 7, and some claim it helps neutralize acidity in the body, offering health benefits. However, the scientific evidence behind these claims is weak. Your body already regulates pH naturally, making alkaline water largely a marketing-driven product rather than a necessity.

Best for: Those who prefer its smoother taste (and don’t mind paing a few extra dollars despite the lack of tangible benefits).

4. pH-balanced water: more hype than health benefit

pH-balanced water is effectively the same as alkaline water, with a neutral neutral pH of around 7. Unless your water supply is excessively acidic or alkaline, this designation is mostly a branding tactic rather than a crucial factor in hydration.

Best for: Those who like the idea of a neutral pH but don’t need a scientifically backed reason to choose it.

Bottled water may seem convenient, but its benefits are overstated. Whether labeled as spring, distilled, or alkaline, most bottled waters are no more than repackaged municipal water, dressed up with clever marketing. Yes, water that’s labelled as “distilled” will almost certainly be distilled, but it’s certainly not pure; if that distilled water comes to you in a plastic jug, then there are microplastics in that water.

However the bottled water is branded, remember it carries many hidden costs: for your health, your wallet, and the environment.

Beyond the branding, bottled water comes with hidden costs—potential health concerns, massive environmental waste, and an unjustifiable price tag. No matter what kind you choose, if it comes in a bottle or can, it’s simply not a sustainable or healthy way to hydrate.

Microplastics in every sip

If your water comes from a single-use plastic bottle, you’re likely consuming microplastics as well. Research has found that bottled water often contains tiny plastic particles that leach from packaging over time. These microplastics end up in the human body, and while the long-term health effects are still being studied, we can’t imagine they’re helping matters by being there. Given the widespread use of plastic in food and beverage packaging, exposure to these contaminants is nearly unavoidable—but drinking from plastic bottles increases the risk significantly.

Paying a premium for convenience

Economically speaking, bottled water is one of the biggest consumer rip-offs. Depending on the brand, bottled water can cost up to 2,000 times more per gallon than filtered tap water. Yet, in many cases, that bottled water is simply repackaged and filtered municipal tap water.

The single-use plastic predicament

Beyond personal health risks, bottled water is a disaster for the planet. Every minute, over one million plastic bottles are purchased globally, and despite recycling efforts, a vast majority of these bottles end up in landfills or oceans where the take hundreds of years to decompose. What’s more, the production process itself is resource-intensive, requiring significant amounts of fossil fuels and water—ironically, it can take more water to produce a plastic bottle than the amount it actually holds.

Given the health concerns, environmental toll, and financial waste associated with bottled water, it’s clear that a more sustainable and reliable hydration solution is needed.

So, what is the best water to drink? The answer isn’t in the most expensive or trendy bottle—it’s water that is properly filtered, rich in minerals, and has a minimal environmental footprint.

The best water to drink is filtered, and it doesn’t come in a single-use plastic bottle.

Unlike bottled water, which is often sourced from municipal supplies and repackaged with a hefty markup, point-of-source filtration allows you to be 100% certain that your water is free from harmful contaminants while still retaining the essential minerals your body needs. It is without a doubt the best water for you to drink.

Carbon filtration specifically is one of the safest, healthiest, and most sustainable water filtration options available. While some purification methods, like reverse osmosis (RO), strip water of all minerals, carbon filtration is designed to enhance both safety and taste. High-quality carbon filtration systems remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chlorine, and unpleasant odors while preserving healthy minerals like calcium and magnesium. This means that you’re getting clean, refreshing water that supports hydration, bone health, and muscle function—without the unnecessary waste of plastic bottles.

So, instead of chasing the latest water trend, focus on the essentials: clean, mineral-rich water that hydrates without harming the planet.