Dasani is a bottled water brand with a lot of bad press. Some news publications suggest that it’s just bottled tap water, and consumers are often curious about whether it’s bad for you or a waste of money.

But does Dasani water have any ingredients that are actually unhealthy? How is it made and is it safer than tap water? Does it taste bad? And what’s the healthiest type of filtered water?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we analyze the ingredients in Dasani water based on medical studies to give our take on whether or not it’s bad for you.

We’ll also share our thoughts on whether its plastic packaging is unhealthy, explain why tap water may be unsafe in many American states and explain the best way to filter water to remove contaminants.

Ingredient Analysis

The ingredients in Dasani water are shown above.

Magnesium sulfate and potassium chloride are electrolytes added for taste, and are entirely safe and non-toxic. Filtered water can sometimes taste “flat” which is why Dasani’s manufacturer adds these ingredients.

Our concern about the health effects of Dasani water is related to the plastic packaging rather than the actual ingredients.

Dasani is packaged in soft plastic, and this type of material requires a class of chemicals called plasticizers (the most common is BPA) to make the plastic soft. A medical review published in the Toxicology Reports journal found that BPA ingestion is associated with increased risk of cancer.

And BPA alternatives are no better. A medical review published in the Environmental Health journal reports that estrogenic chemicals leach from BPA-free packaging and that it’s no better for human health.

As we documented in our review of blk Water, medical research has shown that microplastic contamination is higher in single-use bottled water like Dasani than in tap water.

So it seems logical to avoid single-use bottled water brands like Dasani, but is tap water a better option? We’ll review in the next section.

Is Tap Water in the US Unsafe?

Unfortunately, the infrastructure for clean municipal tap water in the US is degrading, and high levels of heavy metals are found in some areas. A VICE News exposé reports on the lead pipe issues faced by many Americans:

Does Dasani’s Low pH Matter?

There’s a lot of misinformation and unscientific advice online about the relatively low pH of Dasani water. pH measures the relative acidity of water. Lower levels are more acidic and higher levels are more alkaline.

While there are some research-backed alkaline water benefits, we haven’t come across any convincing medical evidence that more acidic water within a normal range is unhealthy.

The most important factors for the healthiness of water are contaminant levels and packaging. Low or nonexistent heavy metal contamination and plastic-free packaging equals healthy water in our opinion. The pH level is less relevant.

The low pH does make the water taste bad in our opinion, and many online reviewers say similar, but this is not a health issue.

Dasani actually publishes annually-updated test results proving that their water is free of harmful contaminants.

But if low contamination and plastic-free packaging are the most important criteria for healthy water, what are the best filtration options? We’ll share our top clean water picks after featuring our personal take on Dasani.

We Tried Dasani Water Ourselves

As the author of this article, I wanted to try Dasani Water myself even though I almost never buy single-use plastic bottles for health and environmental reasons.

I bought a bottle of Dasani Water at a gas station while traveling for work.

The taste is mediocre but not bad. It just tasted like nothing to me. It tasted like distilled water. There was no mineral taste or complex taste like with some other bottled water brands.

I dislike the look of the bottle visually and the product experience. It's a more awkward bottle shape and size than brands like JUST Water or Liquid Death in my opinion.

Buying bottled water feels like a waste of money and it doesn't even taste good, so I don't plan to buy Dasani Water in the future, even if I'm traveling.

Our Clean Water Picks

Brita Water Filter is our top value water filter pick.

It's been shown in studies conducted by ConsumerLab (an independent research firm) to significantly reduce heavy metal levels and entirely eliminate microplastics.

Sans Water Purifier is our top premium water filter pick.

The product is NSF-Certified, and is clinically shown to not only remove common contaminants like heavy metals, but also toxins like nitrate and PFOAs ("forever chemicals").

Pique Daily Radiance is our top water flavoring pick.

These packets are naturally flavored with nutritious ingredients like organic elderberry juice concentrate (which is clinically shown to support the immune system) and organic lemon juice concentrate.

Conclusion

We don’t believe that Dasani water is necessarily bad for you, but we don’t recommend the brand due to its plastic packaging. Research shows that hormone-disrupting chemicals can leach from plastic containers into water, and single-use plastic is harmful to the environment and potentially to human health.

Dasani water is low in contaminants which is a good thing, and the concerns about its relatively low pH are unscientific.

Many municipalities in the U.S. unfortunately have contaminants in their tap water, so filtering water at home is the most economical and healthy way to access clean, pure drinking water in our opinion.