Poland Spring water is safe to drink and comparable in quality to most other bottled spring waters sold in the United States. It has a near-neutral pH of 7.2, meets FDA standards for bottled water, and contains very low levels of contaminants. That said, it doesn’t offer meaningful mineral benefits beyond what you’d get from ordinary tap water in most American cities.
What’s Actually in the Water
Poland Spring is sourced from multiple springs across Maine, including Cold Spring, Clear Spring, Spruce Spring, and several others. The original spring in Poland, Maine, is no longer used for bottling, but the company draws from roughly ten active spring sources throughout the state.
The water has a measured pH of 7.2, which is essentially neutral (7.0 being perfectly neutral on the scale). This makes it neither meaningfully acidic nor alkaline. If you’ve seen marketing for high-pH “alkaline” waters suggesting health advantages, the evidence behind those claims is thin. A pH of 7.2 is right where drinking water should be.
In terms of minerals, Poland Spring falls short of what many people assume spring water provides. A study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that adults drinking two liters per day of most spring waters fulfill less than 3% of their daily recommended intake of calcium and magnesium. That’s significantly less than many North American tap water sources, which can supply 8% to 16% of daily calcium needs and 6% to 31% of magnesium needs from the same volume. If you’re drinking Poland Spring for its mineral content, you’re not getting much. Foods like dairy, leafy greens, and nuts are far more efficient sources.
Contaminant Levels and PFAS
PFAS, the group of industrial chemicals sometimes called “forever chemicals,” are a legitimate concern in drinking water. A 2022 surveillance program run by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health tested Poland Spring and found total PFAS levels of 1.35 parts per trillion. To put that in perspective, the EPA’s health advisory level for certain PFAS compounds is 4 parts per trillion, and many states set their own limits between 10 and 20 ppt. Poland Spring’s levels came in well below all of those thresholds.
Of the 18 specific PFAS compounds tested, Poland Spring showed non-detectable levels for 16 of them. The two that were detected (PFHxS at 0.683 ppt and PFOA at 0.666 ppt) were present in trace amounts. No PFOS, the other commonly discussed PFAS compound, was found. These results place Poland Spring among the cleaner bottled waters on the market when it comes to forever chemicals.
The Bottle Itself
Poland Spring uses PET plastic bottles, which are BPA-free. BPA is the hormone-disrupting chemical found in some older plastics, particularly polycarbonate containers. PET is a different type of plastic entirely and does not contain BPA. The bottles are also 100% recyclable, though whether they actually get recycled depends on your local infrastructure.
One practical concern with any plastic water bottle is heat exposure. Leaving PET bottles in a hot car or in direct sunlight for extended periods can cause trace amounts of chemicals from the plastic to leach into the water. Storing bottles at room temperature or cooler avoids this issue.
The “Spring Water” Controversy
Poland Spring has faced a long-running lawsuit, filed in 2017, alleging that its water doesn’t truly come from natural springs. The plaintiffs claimed that “not one drop” of the roughly 1 billion gallons sold annually came from a genuine spring source, and that the original Poland Spring in Maine ran dry decades ago. An expert hired by the plaintiffs, a former Syracuse University earth sciences professor, argued the company appeared to use man-made springs and extracted surface water.
The company has consistently maintained that all its sources comply with the FDA’s legal definition of spring water, and state regulators in Maine have authorized the product’s sale under that label. A federal judge in Connecticut allowed the lawsuit to proceed in late 2024, calling it an open question whether the water qualifies as spring water under certain state laws. The case remains unresolved. Regardless of how it’s classified, the water itself has tested as clean and safe, so the dispute is more about labeling accuracy than health risk.
Poland Spring vs. Tap Water
For most Americans, the practical health difference between Poland Spring and filtered tap water is negligible. The FDA regulates bottled water to standards that are compatible with the EPA’s rules for public drinking water. In some cases, bottled water standards are actually stricter: the allowable lead level for bottled water is 5 parts per billion, compared to 15 ppb for tap water, because tap water can pick up lead from aging pipes on its way to your faucet.
That pipe issue is the one scenario where bottled water like Poland Spring offers a clear advantage. If you live in an area with older plumbing, known lead contamination, or water quality advisories, bottled spring water is a reasonable alternative. But if your municipal water supply is clean and you use a basic filter, you’re getting comparable or even better mineral content than Poland Spring provides, at a fraction of the cost. Minerals dissolved in water are in ionic form, making them easily absorbed by your digestive system, so whatever minerals your tap water does contain are fully bioavailable.
Poland Spring is a perfectly fine bottled water. It’s clean, it tastes neutral, and its contaminant levels are low. It just isn’t nutritionally superior to the water already coming out of most kitchen faucets.