The short answer
There is no single best water for everyone: there is the right water for a given use. For everyday drinking, a low-mineral water such as Evian, Volvic, Thonon or Mont Blanc suits the whole family. For preparing baby bottles, choose a water labelled « suitable for the preparation of infant food », such as Mont Roucous, Mont Blanc, Thonon or Wattwiller. Highly mineralised waters (Hépar, Contrex, Courmayeur) and very salty waters (St-Yorre and Vichy Célestins) have an occasional use but are not meant to be the only water you drink every day. And tap water, regularly tested and more than 80 times cheaper, remains the default choice when it is good to drink.
The 19 waters compared, mineral by mineral
| Water | Type | Calcium | Magnesium | Sodium | Bicarbonates | Sulphates | Nitrates | Dry residue | Price per litre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mont Roucous | still | 2.4 | 0.5 | 3.1 | not stated | 2.5 | 1.6 | 33 | not recorded |
| Mont Blanc | still | 29 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 70 | 50 | less than 1 | 138 | not recorded |
| Volvic | still | 12 | 8 | 12 | 80 | 9 | 7.7 | 130 | 0.45 EUR |
| Wattwiller | still | 35 | 11 | 3 | 135 | 24 | 0 | 155 | 0.66 EUR |
| Thonon | still | 92 | 19 | 5.7 | 340 | 12 | 8 | 342* | not recorded |
| Evian | still | 80 | 26 | 6.5 | 360 | 15 | 3.8 | 345 | 0.50 EUR |
| Abatilles | still | 19 | 9 | 100 | 131 | 8 | 0 | 372 | not recorded |
| Vittel | still | 240 | 42 | 5.2 | 384 | 400 | 4.4 | 1,084 | 0.41 EUR |
| Contrex | still | 468 | 75 | 9.4 | 372 | 1,121 | not stated | 2,078 | 0.41 EUR |
| Courmayeur | still | 517 | 67 | 1 | 201 | 1,410 | not stated | 2,147* | not recorded |
| Hépar | still | 549 | 119 | 14 | 387 | 1,530 | 4.3 | 2,513 | 1.01 EUR |
| Perrier | sparkling | 160 | 4.2 | 9.5 | 420 to 445 | 25 to 46 | not stated | 456 to 479 | not recorded |
| La Salvetat | sparkling | 210 | 9.5 | 7 | 530 | 20 | not stated | 520 | not recorded |
| San Pellegrino | sparkling | 208 | 51 | 44 | 244 | 401 | 2.8 | 853 | not recorded |
| Quézac | sparkling | 170 | 69 | 110 | 1,000 | not stated | not detected | 980 | not recorded |
| Badoit | sparkling | 153 | 80 | 180 | 1,250 | 35 | not stated | 1,100 | 0.90 EUR |
| Rozana | sparkling | 301 | 160 | 493 | 1,770 | 230 | 1.5 | 2,995 | 0.67 EUR |
| Vichy Célestins | sparkling | 103 | 10 | 1,170 | 2,989 | 138 | not stated | 3,325* | not recorded |
| St-Yorre | sparkling | 90 | 11 | 1,710 | 4,368 | 174 | not stated | 4,774* | not recorded |
The mineral content of a natural mineral water is stable, but labels change: always check the one on your bottle. Cristaline is not in this table: it is a spring water brand that bottles around twenty different springs, each with its own composition, shown on the label.
How to read a mineral water label
The European directive on natural mineral waters regulates the claims a water may carry according to its composition. Here are the main ones:
| Claim | Condition | Examples from the table |
|---|---|---|
| Very low mineral content | dry residue of 50 mg/L at most | Mont Roucous |
| Low mineral content | dry residue of 500 mg/L at most | Volvic, Evian, Thonon, Mont Blanc, Wattwiller |
| Rich in mineral salts | dry residue above 1,500 mg/L | Hépar, Contrex, Rozana, St-Yorre |
| Bicarbonate | more than 600 mg/L of bicarbonates | St-Yorre, Vichy Célestins, Rozana, Badoit, Quézac |
| Sulphate | more than 200 mg/L of sulphates | Hépar, Courmayeur, Contrex, Vittel, San Pellegrino |
| Calcium | more than 150 mg/L of calcium | Hépar, Courmayeur, Contrex |
| Magnesium | more than 50 mg/L of magnesium | Rozana, Hépar, Badoit |
| Sodium | more than 200 mg/L of sodium | St-Yorre, Vichy Célestins, Rozana |
| Suitable for a low-sodium diet | 20 mg/L of sodium at most | most of the still waters in the table |
The dry residue is the amount of minerals left when one litre of water is evaporated at 180 °C: it is the best summary of mineral content. Between Mont Roucous at 33 mg/L and St-Yorre at nearly 4,800 mg/L, the ratio is more than one hundred.
Which water for which profile
For everyday drinking
For a healthy adult, a low-mineral water is perfectly fine every day. There is no point in constantly drinking a highly mineralised water: most of your calcium and magnesium comes from food. Varying waters, or alternating with tap water, also avoids always taking in the same minerals in large amounts. How much should you drink? See our guide on how much water to drink per day.
For baby bottles
Only waters carrying the claim « suitable for the preparation of infant food » are appropriate. They must be still and meet strict limits set by the order of 14 March 2007, including no more than 10 mg/L of nitrates and a very low fluoride content. Mont Roucous, Mont Blanc, Thonon and Wattwiller claim this suitability on their websites. Evian and Volvic present themselves as suitable for babies, but we did not find the exact regulatory claim on the pages consulted: check it on the bottle. Sparkling, highly mineralised or sulphate-rich waters are to be avoided; the Hépar label even states « do not use for infants unless medically advised ».
During pregnancy
No water is recommended in particular. A low-mineral water or tap water is fine. The Anses reference value for magnesium does not change during pregnancy, as our guide on magnesium-rich waters explains, with the full ranking of waters for this mineral.
If you have high blood pressure or follow a low-salt diet
This is the profile for which the choice of water matters most. The World Health Organization recommends not exceeding 2 g of sodium per day. One litre of St-Yorre provides 1,710 mg according to Ciqual, one litre of Vichy Célestins 1,170 mg, and one litre of Rozana 493 mg: a good part of the daily limit. Choose a water carrying the claim « suitable for a low-sodium diet », at 20 mg/L at most, like most of the still waters in the table.
If you are constipated
Waters rich in magnesium sulphate, such as Hépar, have a laxative effect that has been known for a long time. A review published in 2020 in Nutrients concludes, from clinical trials carried out since the 2000s, that they can be a natural treatment for functional constipation. It is the sulphate, more than the magnesium, that explains this effect, as our guide on magnesium-rich waters details. These waters should be drunk for a limited period, not as your only drink all year round. See also our guide on dietary fibre.
For athletes
No water is officially recommended for sport: it is first of all the volume drunk that matters and, during long exercise, the sodium lost through sweat. Our guide on hydration and sports performance covers the topic.
If you have kidney stones
The choice of water depends on the type of stones: what suits one type of stone may be discouraged for another. Ask your doctor or your nephrologist for advice rather than choosing a water from its label.
Fluoride: a claim worth knowing
A water containing more than 1.5 mg/L of fluoride must carry the claim « not suitable for infants and children under 7 years of age for regular consumption ». Among the waters recorded, Quézac states 2.2 mg/L on its website; Badoit and St-Yorre show 1.2 and 1.5 mg/L respectively. For a young child, prefer a low-fluoride water for everyday drinking.
Tap water versus bottled water
| Tap water | Bottled water | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | around 0.005 EUR per litre, including sewerage | from 0.41 to 1.01 EUR per litre in our survey |
| Testing | regular health checks, results available by municipality | stable composition, guaranteed by the label |
| Minerals | vary by municipality | from very low to very high depending on the brand |
| Waste | no packaging | about one bottle per litre |
At 4.89 EUR per cubic metre, a litre of tap water costs about half a cent: that is more than 80 times less than the cheapest bottled water in our survey. The results of your municipality’s health checks are published online; if your water tastes of chlorine, a jug in the fridge for a few hours is often enough, and our comparison of filter jugs details what they really remove.
Our sources
- Ciqual 2025 table (Anses), composition of bottled waters.
- Official brand websites and labels copied from the product pages of a major retailer, recorded on 26/09/2026.
- Directive 2009/54/EC on the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters, Annex III.
- Order of 14 March 2007 on quality criteria for packaged waters, Annex IV (waters suitable for infants) and Article 9 (fluoride).
- French national observatory of water and sanitation services (SISPEA), average price on 1 January 2025.
- World Health Organization, recommendation on sodium intake.
- Dupont C, Hébert G. Magnesium sulfate-rich natural mineral waters in the treatment of functional constipation: a review. Nutrients, 2020 (PMID 32664341).