Forget Evian. PFAS-free bottled water is the new status symbol

Branding for high-end bottled water previously relied on origin-based mystique such as glacier purity or remote island aquifers. New brands instead connect wellness, health, and luxury to the absence of microplastics and PFAS, often described as “forever chemicals.” Evidence indicates bottled water can contain more microplastics than tap water, increasing consumer awareness and fear about long-term health effects. Loonen positions itself as exhaustively tested and PFAS-free in glass bottles, aiming for transparency rather than marketing jargon. WaterOuai positions itself as healthy and artisan, using a Japanese-made “supercan” designed to eliminate microplastics. These launches align with rapid growth in bottled water consumption and an expanding purification market.

"For years, branding for high-end bottled water tried to sell consumers on the ineffable characteristics gained by dint of its origins: the purity of an Icelandic glacier, or the exoticness and vibrancy of an aquifer from a remote Pacific island. Now, a new generation of water brands are looking to rebrand wellness, health, and luxury as drinking a product that lacks a certain invisible mystery-namely microplastics and PFAS, the "forever chemicals.""

"With increasing evidence showing that bottled water has significantly more microplastics than the tap, including an Ohio State University study released earlier this year, these brands are tapping into larger consumer awareness-and fear-over the long-term health aspects of these pollutants. "The organic movement never came for water, because it's not grown," says venture capitalist Clara Sieg, founder of Loonen, an exhaustively tested, PFAS-free water sold in glass bottles."

""It's a category that was based on marketing claims and jargon for a very long time, and consumers got a lot of cool bottle designs, but not very much transparency on what's in it." Loonen and the newly launched brand WaterOuai are positioning themselves as premium, on-the-go options in an expanding water purification market that already boasts a number of home filtration systems."

"Meanwhile, WaterOuai, which was started by the founder of the cult sunscreen brand Supergoop! and her son, is positioning itself as a healthy, artisan water option that's packaged in a Japanese-made "supercan" that eliminates microplastics. These launches come at a time when bottled water continues to explode as a consumer category."

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