Forget Evian. PFAS-free bottled water is the new status symbol

By Patrick Sisson | Fast Company | May 28, 2026

Read the full article by Patrick Sisson (Fast Company)

"For years, branding for high-end bottled water tried to sell consumers on the ineffable characteristics gained by dint of its origins: the purity of an Icelandic glacier, or the exoticness and vibrancy of an aquifer from a remote Pacific island.

Now, a new generation of water brands are looking to rebrand wellness, health, and luxury as drinking a product that lacks a certain invisible mystery—namely microplastics and PFAS, the “forever chemicals.” With increasing evidence showing that bottled water has significantly more microplastics than the tap, including an Ohio State University study released earlier this year, these brands are tapping into larger consumer awareness—and fear—over the long-term health aspects of these pollutants.

“The organic movement never came for water, because it’s not grown,” says former venture capitalist Clara Sieg, founder of Loonen, an exhaustively tested, PFAS-free water sold in glass bottles. “It’s a category that was based on marketing claims and jargon for a very long time, and consumers got a lot of cool bottle designs, but not very much transparency on what’s in it.”