bottled water lacks drug safeguards

The U.S. federal standards for acceptable levels of pharmaceutical residue in bottled water are the same as those for tap water.

Some water that’s bottled comes from pristine, often underground rural sources; other brands have a source no more remote than local tap water. Bottlers insist their products are safe and say they generally clean the water with advanced treatments, though not explicitly for pharmaceuticals.

Annual bottled water consumption in the United States has increased about 50 percent, to 30 gallons per person.