Bubbles Ranked: The Definitive Guide to Sparkling Waters

DASH water is made with wonky fruit!

Although tap water in England is perfectly safe, many people choose bottled water whether that’s for travel, at the gym or in emergencies when there is no tap around. But most shops sell an array of confusing bottled waters in various packaging.

How do you know which one is best to buy? In short, choose water that is locally-sourced (not shipped by plane from Fiji)  in sustainable bottles that are easy to reuse and recycle.

Look for bottled water in aluminium cans or glass. Although many brands are now in recycled plastic, when littered they  still fall down drains and break into microplastics in the sea, accidentally ingested by marine creatures.

Before recycling cans, rinse then pop ring-pulls over holes. Then step on the can to ‘pinch’ inner rims together, to avoid wildlife getting trapped. 

Check medication before consuming grapefruit or rhubarb. Never give sparkling water to to pets, it could cause bloat.

How much water should we drink?

The average adult needs around 1.2 litres per day (more in hot weather or after vomiting or diarrhoea). That’s around six 200ml glasses. So drink two glasses when you wake up, have two more before lunch, and two more before dinner. Add more per glass of wine or beer, or per tea, coffee or cola.

Wash and rinse pet bowls daily. Avoid fizzy water or guzzling water after runs or car trips (to prevent bloat). Don’t let pets drink from puddles (due to bacteria, oil, antifreeze). For outdoor pets, ensure drip-feed bottles are not blocked or frozen.

ReWater: Sparkling water in recycled aluminium bottles

re:water offers still and sparkling water sourced from Herefordshire springs, which are packed in beautiful bottles, made from 100% recycled aluminium. When empty, you can rinse and reuse, and easily recycle at end of life.

Aqua Libra

Aqua Libra used to be on sale in indie health shops when we still had some. It offers cans of sparkling water (you can add still water cans too if wished) plus flavoured options like:

• Cucumber lime mint
• Blueberry pomegranate
• Raspberry blackcurrant
• Watermelon strawberry
• Blood orange mango

DASH Water (sparkling waters made with wonky fruits)

DASH Sparkling Water is sold in many stores, but you’ll get huge discounts if you order online (you can also buy mixed flavour pick-and-mix packs). You’ll save 20% on each order with just 99p per shipping (UK). For delivery every 30 days, and you can cancel orders anytime. Or just purchase one time.

Plain filtered water is of course fine. But this drink is more to replace fizzy sodas, many people prefer fizzy or flavoured waters. This is made from natural spring water and wonky fruit that would otherwise have gone to landfills. Packed in zero waste cans that are easy to recycle.

This brand offers refreshing fruity sparkling water, in this case using discarded cucumbers (one of England’s most refreshing tastes). That have for whatever reason been rejected by industry for sale. You can use them as a clean swap for sugary fizzy drinks, or even use them in homemade mocktails (no-alcohol cocktails).

DASH delivers (within a few days) to England, Wales, Scotland (including the Highlands and Islands), the Isle of Mand and the Channel Islands.

Discounts galore for DASH drinks!

DASH has many good discount offers, if you’re on a budget but want to join the movement, by switching from sugary sodas to DASH sparkling waters made from wonky fruits!

• Order bundles of different flavours in packs of 48 or 96, for big savings. Ideal if you drink a lot of fizzy water, have a large family or office, or if you’re planning a celebration. Or order a trial pack (of the four most popular flavours).
• Earn rewards to redeem against future orders. You also get more points if you follow DASH on Instagram, refer a friend and even tell them when it’s your birthday!
• Student discounts (just verify your status for big discounts on first and further orders)

Key workers (just verify employment to get 40% off your first order). Key workers include:

• NHS, police and fire staff
• Charity, care and social workers
• Teachers and military staff
• Delivery and transport staff
• Supermarket staff

40% of all food in England goes to waste. This brand is helping to use it up. Which not only stops fruits going to landfill, but also helps our farmers. As Wonky HQ buys up the fruit, so the farmers get some income from fruit that is rejected by supermarkets and big industry.

On top of that, food waste on landfills release greenhouse gases, which contributes to climate change. So by supporting this brand, you can be a real gamechanger in reducing food waste, helping farmers and saving the planet. All while drinking tasty fruity fizzy water!

Project Drawdown says that ‘fighting food waste is one of the most effective ways to fight global warming’. Yet worldwide, over 1 billion tonnes of food is wasted each year. When there is enough food thrown away to feed ever single hungry person on earth. 

In the UK alone, over 9.5 million tonnes of food is thrown away each year (with around 40% of fresh fruits and vegetables going in bins). And unlike in France, food waste in supermarkets is not illegal – over there, they get fined if they don’t recycle it on).

The company is also part of Feedback’s gleaning network (volunteering to collect surplus produce from farmers’ fields after commercial harvests, to save fruit and veg from going to landfill).

The cans are also sent in cardboard boxes (not plastic packaging).

Who founded DASH sparkling waters?

DASH was founded by two friends, who both grew up on farms. They saw firsthand how ‘wonky fruit’ was often discarded, so decided to do something about it. They also wanted to help farmers, who often see their income plummet, if big supermarkets decide their fruits are too wonky, or the wrong size, shape or colour.

England’s big supermarkets now control around 85% of the food market, which leaves farmers often at their mercy. So DASH do things differently – purchasing farmers’ fruits before the harvest, so they know they have income coming in, even if the harvest is ‘not perfect’.

One (sparkling water to help people abroad)

One Water, a canned brand (still or sparkling), set out to change that with a simple, heart-warming idea: use the profits to fund projects abroad. Sold in Co-op and many other shops nationwide. Buying a can does more than quench thirst. Each bottle sold funds programs that bring clean and safe water to people in need.

These projects include building wells, fixing local pumps and setting up tanks in villages where drinking water is hard to find.

In 2003 (on the same day that Saddam Hussain was found hiding in a bunker) the founder had just returned from 2 years travelling around the world (which included a spate without safe clean water thanks to Hurricane Mitch in Honduras).

He opened the newspaper to find a photograph of a young girl in Nairobi. She was sitting next to a tap – that was padlocked. So far his foundation has raised over £30 million, helping to bring clean safe water to over 5 million people.

Monies raised mostly focus on work in 4 countries:

• Ghana
• Malawi
• Kenya
• Rwanda

Projects helped so far include a whole village receiving clean safe water in Malawi (where almost half the country has no access to clean water and 25% of people have no access to clean toilets).

Although tap water in England is perfectly safe, many people choose bottled whether that’s for travel, at the gym or in emergencies when there is no tap around. But most shops sell an array of confusing brands in various packaging.

How do you know which one is best to buy? In short, choose water that is locally-sourced (not shipped by plane from Fiji)  in sustainable bottles that are easy to reuse and recycle.

Look for brands in aluminium cans or glass. Although many are now in recycled plastic, when littered they  still fall down drains and break into microplastics in the sea, accidentally ingested by marine creatures.