For years, branding for high-end bottled water tried to promote customers on the ineffable traits gained by dint of its origins: the purity of an Icelandic glacier, or the exoticness and vibrancy of an aquifer from a distant Pacific island.
Now, a brand new technology of water manufacturers need to rebrand wellness, well being, and luxurious as ingesting a product that lacks a sure invisible thriller—particularly microplastics and PFAS, the “perpetually chemical substances.” With rising proof exhibiting that bottled water has considerably extra microplastics than the faucet, together with an Ohio State University study launched earlier this 12 months, these manufacturers are tapping into bigger shopper consciousness—and worry—over the long-term well being features of those pollution.
“The natural motion by no means got here for water, as a result of it’s not grown,” says enterprise capitalist Clara Sieg, founding father of Loonen, an exhaustively examined, PFAS-free water offered in glass bottles. “It’s a class that was primarily based on marketing claims and jargon for a really very long time, and customers received numerous cool bottle designs, however not very a lot transparency on what’s in it.”
Loonen and the newly launched model WaterOuai are positioning themselves as premium, on-the-go choices in an increasing water purification market that already boasts a variety of residence filtration programs. Since launching in late 2025, Loonen has develop into an “it water” that’s discovered its means into the fingers of influencers, on the cabinets of classy grocery shops, and celebs like Dua Lipa, with no paid influencer marketing campaign.
In the meantime, WaterOuai, which was began by the founding father of the cult sunscreen model Supergoop! and her son, is positioning itself as a wholesome, artisan water choice that’s packaged in a Japanese-made “supercan” that eliminates microplastics.
These launches come at a time when bottled water continues to blow up as a shopper class. Bottled water overtook carbonated gentle drinks as essentially the most consumed industrial beverage within the U.S. within the late 2010 and continues to develop at a fevered tempo, based on the Beverage Marketing Corporation. In 2024, U.S. residents consumed 16.4 billion gallons of bottled water, creating revenues of $28.2 billion, greater than double the $13.8 billion determine from 2014.
The motion towards extra chemical-free hydration matches into wider shifts within the wellness house in direction of avoiding components and impurities, says Joe Vennare, cofounder of Fitt Insider. Vennare says MAHA discourse and the rising prevalence of third-party testing of merchandise are resulting in a extra normal consciousness of what’s inside our meals and drinks. He may see it resulting in labels or packaging that disclose the presence, or lack, of PFAS.
“It’s going to be one other checkbox,” he says. “Not that way back, you began seeing that with dietary stuff, the place all the things had this keto seal, or Entire 30 seal, or seed-oil free seal.”
Constructing a greater water model
Each Loonen and WaterOuai share considerably comparable origin tales. Each had been began by moms who wished a more healthy different to conventional drinks; and each function skilled shopper items operators.
Within the case of Loonen—a 6-pack of 750ml glass bottles retails for $35.99 on Amazon—Sieg had dug deep into analysis concerning the influence of PFAS and the pervasiveness of the perpetually chemical throughout a interval when she was within the midst of the IVF course of. She labored with David Kimmell, COO and cofounder, who was a part of the crew that launched Spindrift.
For WaterOuai—$48 for a 24-pack of 8.45 ounce cans—Holly Thaggard, founding father of Supergoop!, labored along with her 18-year-old son Will to carry the model to life. Will was impressed to start out the corporate after studying about microplastics air pollution throughout a faculty seminar. He and Holly self-funded the launch of the water model, which attracts on Central Texas spring water.
Each manufacturers took their very own path to discovering the purest water. For Loonen, Sieg examined water throughout the nation, zeroing in on a collection of springs within the Palomar Mountains exterior of Los Angeles. The water is examined and shipped in particular steel-lined tanks to a bespoke bottling plant the place it’s filtered then remineralized and positioned in glass bottles. FDA requirements mandate that spring waters or mineral waters can’t endure significant filtration (Close to the QR code that pulls up batch-by-batch testing outcomes, discover the label says “spring sourced” with balanced minerals).
The brand, a loon, affords each a geographically vague model, and a organic reference to purity; loons are revered by biologists for rapidly leaving our bodies of water the place the water purity begins to say no, serving as sentries of kinds.
“I don’t wish to be making well being claims, and we don’t,” Sieg says. “That’s the primary purpose why we’re so complete in our testing, since you shouldn’t simply depend on what we are saying about our course of, or what we are saying concerning the product. You must take into consideration our take a look at outcomes.”
The Supercan utilized by Water Ouai makes use of a strong PET layer that’s utilized to the aluminum earlier than the receptacle is fashioned, making a barrier between can and water. In line with Thaggard, testing reveals that the method ends in a extra sturdy label that stops chemical switch into the water and ends in zero microplastics reaching the patron. That is the primary use of the Japanese cans within the U.S. market, and will probably be launched to pick retail and resort areas.
With increasing shopper consciousness of the hazards of microplastics, Thaggard says she’s seeing new entrants into the class and “validation within the house.”
“I believe that dialog goes to proceed to develop in direction of the supplies a part of the transparency, and the packaging,” says Thaggard. “Our aim for that is to be a part of that evolution that helps to set a brand new expectation for the way hydration can nonetheless be handy and fantastically designed, however delivered in a wholesome and clear means.”
Vennare may even see the Supercan itself changing into the product that actually succeeds, kind of just like the infrastructure for extra high-quality beverage manufacturers to undertake.
Sieg believes new beverage manufacturers like Loonen characterize simply a part of the answer, the on-the-go, bottled a part of the bigger clear water set, which possible consists of some sort of residence filtration. It actually advantages from dialog about a difficulty that appears poised to proceed as bigger structural options are thought-about.
“I hope that the infrastructure within the U.S. begins getting upgraded, however there are virtually 55,000 completely different group water programs within the U.S., and so they weren’t designed to take care of PFAS and microplastics,” Sieg says. “I draw numerous inspiration from the progress that may be made by altering issues in your individual residence and attempting to alter issues on a group stage.”
