Federal, State and Industry Regulations for Bottled Water

Whether bottled water is packaged in small containers sold in a store or in coolers in the home and office, federal and state governments regulate it, and the industry also has standards that member companies must follow to help ensure consumers enjoy a safe, high quality product.

Federal

While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates tap water as a utility, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled water as a packaged food product. FDA bottled water regulations include:

Standard of Identity—FDA requires uniform use of terms like "purified" and "spring," so consumers can be sure different companies use the same descriptions consistently on their product labels. For example, a bottle marked "spring water" must be from a spring. One-fourth of bottled water comes from municipal sources, rather than a spring or well. The FDA requires these products be labeled "from a community water system" or "from a municipal source." However, if this water goes through a purification process such as distillation or reverse osmosis, FDA has determined that the product can be defined by the type of purification (i.e.; "drinking water"), rather than as from a municipal source.

Current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)—for both general food and bottled water-specific categories. General GMPs govern plant and ground maintenance and facility sanitation. Bottled water-specific GMPs cover plant construction and design, equipment design and production, process controls specific to bottled water, and extensive record keeping. They also require safe and sanitary transportation and storage.

Standard of Quality (SOQ)—Along with Good Manufacturing Practices, SOQs are specific bottled water product standards that help ensure safety from production and packaging to consumption. To ensure compliance, companies must test for pesticides, minerals, and physical properties such as color. By law, FDA bottled water SOQs must be at least as stringent and protective of public health as EPA’s standards for public water supplies.

To assure the safety of bottled water, the FDA has developed standards that set a minimal acceptable level of quality. The quality standards address substances in the water that may be harmful to health, as well as substances that affect the smell, color, and taste of water. The quality standards also require public notification whenever the microbiological, physical, chemical, or radiological quality of bottled water falls below standard. Follow the link to see the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations and the National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations.

Bottled Water is also subject to FDA food recall, mislabeling, and adulteration provisions.

State

States also regulate bottled water. They are responsible for inspecting, sampling, analyzing, and approving water sources. States certify testing laboratories and perform unannounced and annual inspections. Some states have unique bottled water regulations, and many base their regulations on FDA, and in some cases, industry-based standards.

Domestic bottled water producers that sell their products in other states (interstate commerce) are subject to periodic, unannounced inspections by FDA. Upon inspection, the producers must be in compliance with all aspects of the Quality Standards and Good Manufacturing Practices for bottled water, the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, and all other applicable regulations that are incorporated in the FDA quality standards. Domestic bottled water producers are subject to inspection by state health officials and must comply with all applicable state laws and regulations. Some states (e.g. California, Pennsylvania, and Florida) have adopted regulations that are stricter than federal requirements.

Industry

The bottled water industry has a comprehensive program of self-regulation. For example, bottled water producers who are members of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) are inspected annually by an independent laboratory, the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). Through the unannounced NSF inspection, IBWA members are evaluated on their compliance with both the association's performance requirements and the FDA regulations.