Guidance

Compare types of bottled water

The differences between the 3 types of bottled water, and what bottled water is exempt from the rules.

Applies to England

There are 3 types of bottled water with rules that producers need to follow to produce and market it to the public.

This guide summarises the differences between the 3 types.

You can find full guidance for each type of bottled water:

Use this table to compare the differences.

	Natural mineral water	Spring water	Bottled drinking water
Must come from underground source, tapped at a natural or drilled exit	Yes	Yes	No
Must be free of parasites and bacteria which cause disease	Yes	Yes	Yes
Must be bottled at a spring or borehole	Yes	Yes	No
Spring or borehole must be protected from pollution	Yes	Yes	Not applicable
Must keep its ‘original purity’ (this means its properties have stayed the same from source to bottling)	Yes	No	No
Composition must be ‘stable’ (remain consistent over a lengthy period of time)	Yes	No	No
Must meet limits for chemical, microbial and radioactive substances	Yes	Yes	Yes
Treatments permitted	5 treatment types permitted	Any	Any
Need official recognition from local authority before producing and marketing	Yes	No	No
Must put composition on labelling	Yes	No	No

Bottled water is exempt from these rules if it’s:

not for human consumption
registered as a medicinal product for people, for example, bottled nasal spray or intravenous drip solution
used to make packaged ice for cooling other foods

Natural mineral water is exempt if you use it at source for healing in thermal or hydromineral premises, in for example, a spa.

The rules also do not apply if you’re exporting natural mineral water to countries outside:

Check the rules for the country you’re exporting to.

Published 28 May 2020