The Bottled Water Brand People Seemingly Won't Even Buy When Prepping For A Snow Storm (Dasani)

Foodie ^ | January 31, 2026 | Dennis Lee

[DoodleBob]

In preparation for the massive snowstorm that hit much of the country in the past few days, many people made runs to their local grocery stores to stock up on basic essentials like canned food and bottled water. But during that shopping blitz, some social media users noticed that though every other water brand sold out, one remained nearly untouched. Based off its reputation, I bet a few of you know exactly which one it is.

According to photos posted to Reddit, Dasani, the bottled water everyone loves to hate, seems to have never left many store shelves. (Aquafina is the apparent market favorite.) While I'm no bottled water sommelier, I've always felt like Dasani tasted more or less like tap water, so I'm not particularly surprised — though I am somewhat shocked that the sentiment seems fairly unanimous, considering this type of photo was published in multiple subreddits at different grocery stores. Some users wrote that even Dasani bottles eventually ran out due to desperation, but you know it must be bad when some of the last units won't budge prior to a potential disaster.

Why Dasani has such a bad reputation

Brett Hondow/Shutterstock This reputation Dasani has had seems to stem from a few things. Coca-Cola, the parent product of the brand, describes the water as being "purified and enhanced with a proprietary blend of minerals to give it the clean, fresh taste you want from water." Note that Coca-Cola doesn't say where it sources the water itself — it's not touted as spring water, nor is Coca-Cola describing its source as being remarkable in any way. It's just, well, "purified." To be fair, the brand isn't claiming the water is necessarily remarkable, just that it's clean. (Bottled water can be a little confusing, but we have a guide explaining each category.)

An entire country won't even sell Dasani, as the U.K banned sales of it outright, starting in 2004. That fiasco reads almost like a comedy of errors, as the brand's launch there was riddled with problems. First, U.K. customers weren't particularly interested in a purified water product, since their then-current water supply was fine for most people. Subsequent poor press and media representation only made the brand seem more unappealing. Finally, the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the British public food safety and health regulation body, found that Dasani contained what it considered an unsuitable level of bromate, which is considered a potential carcinogen (but is more likely to cause stomach issues in larger quantities). That spelled the death knell for it overseas, and it hasn't been sold there ever since. Apparently, Dasani's reputation over here at home just isn't all that great either, based off the chatter I see on the internet. Normally beggars can't be choosers, but when Dasani's involved, apparently some people would rather go without.

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TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Society
KEYWORDS: bromate; dasani; shtf

[Fai Mao]

They’re all just filtered tap water.

[ansel12]

I thought bottled water was just for the convenience of being in a bottle for handy use and for storing extra, for most people who have acceptable city water.

[Iron Munro]

Dasani almost always costs more than competeing popular priced brands.

But the Dasani bottle is studier than the low price competition..

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

My wife likes Dasani - hadn’t heard that it was supposed to be shunned. I prefer Deer Park.

[AlaskaErik]

I only buy Alaska Glacier, Arrowhead and Crystal Geyser, in that order. No filtered tap water for me.

[SunkenCiv]

I generally get a case of the nice cheap store brand. The bottles are made of a plastic so thin I keep them laying down in one of the produce drawers in the fridge. It’s a cheaper format than buying gallons, btw.

If it’s a hot day, or I’m out walking, and want a cold one, I’ll get Deja Blue (I think that’s the 7up brand water), nice and cheap. I got started on those because they came with a pull top and were nice and cheap then as well. In the car, I keep a pull top or two from those earlier times, just in case.

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[Celtic Conservative]

“To be fair, the brand isn’t claiming the water is necessarily remarkable, just that it’s clean.”

Thats what “Dasani” literally means in Latin, “it’s clean”.

CC

[Williams]

Reads like a hit job on Dasani.
No one will drink it? Highly unlikely.

[The Great RJ]

I agree that unless the bottle specifically says spring water and identifies the source, it likely contains tap water run through a filtration process. Again read the label and it should identify the filtration process. I specifically look for filtration by reverse osmosis. This process produces a water of near distilled quality and should not contain any added minerals for taste. This is my preferred water to make coffee and large ice cubes for my cocktails. I also use this water in my bedroom humidifier as it leaves very little residue to clean. Many grocery store have a filtration station for bulk water. A few I’ve found use reverse osmosis, but many just run the local tap water through micro filters and activated charcoal which takes out the chunks and makes nasty local water far better tasting, but still leave a significant amount of dissolved minerals. I am also wary of how often those filters get changed.

[South Dakota]

I like the cheap bottles.
If I have to fill the pumpkin with 90 weight oil in my old truck I can fill the cheap bottles and crush the bottle thereby forcing the 90 weight in to the pumpkin

[SunkenCiv]

Good reuse idea.

[MikelTackNailer]

The champagne of water:

"S.Pellegrino mineral water is produced in San Pellegrino Terme. The water may originate from a layer of rock 400 metres (1,300 ft) below the surface, where it is mineralized from contact with limestone and volcanic rocks. The springs are located at the foot of a dolomite mountain wall which favours the formation and replenishment of a mineral water basin. The water then seeps to depths of over 700 m (2,300 ft) and flows underground to a distant aquifer. The carbonation is then added during the production process as the spring itself is not naturally carbonated."

Way better than water from a park that deer pee all over. Otherwise Britta's a good system.

[CaptainK]

I have a house filter and drink the tap water. I enjoy the taste.

[ansel12]

Sparkling water is a whole different ballgame, I drink a lot of it and different brands that are on sale, I drink a lot of that brand out of liter bottles, my favorite is Perrier but it never goes on sale.

[LegendHasIt]

Sierra Springs or nothing!!!

/Monk

[KarlInOhio]

"purified and enhanced with a proprietary blend of minerals to give it the clean, fresh taste you want from water."

Electrolytes. It's what plants crave.

At my old office we got five gallon jugs of water that (if you read the very fine print on the label) was from the municipal supply of my childhood home town. They must have done a lot of filtering on it because the "water" coming out of my pipe at home seemed to be a slightly moistened limestone slurry from the hard water stains it left. It built strong bones - in your pipes, intenstines, dishwasher...

[freepertoo]

My sister gifted me with a reverse osmosis machine. My tap water now tastes better than bottled water and better yet with a few drops of minerals. When I think of the money I wasted on bottled water...

[MikelTackNailer]

It built strong bones - in your pipes, intestines, dishwasher...

LOL. Some skeezy entrepreneur should bottle some of that Flint Michigan aqua and sell it 'Pet Rocks style' - just to see who buys it and how many could be sold. Properly labeled as dangerous, of course.