Products · Bottled water · Mountain Valley

Mountain Valley Spring Water, 1 L glass bottles

Glass-bottled Arkansas spring water, the cheapest per liter here. Only the maker’s own report covers the still water: it names no lab and lists 18 PFAS, arsenic and uranium as not detected. A 2025 suit citing trace metals was dropped.

Best for People who want glass-bottled spring water backed by a full, recent water report and a clean cap liner, and who accept that no outside lab has tested the still water.

Our rating: Fair (3.2 of 5)
Price range: Mid-range
Size: 12 x 1 L glass bottles, still
Made in: Mountain Valley Springs, Garland County, Arkansas (Ouachita Mountains)

approx. $2.83 for one 1 L glass bottle ($33.99 for 12 at the maker’s store)

See it on Mountain Valley’s site → (opens in a new tab)

We are not affiliated with Mountain Valley. This link goes to the maker’s own page, with no tracking code. How we're funded.

Also sold at Amazon ($2.50 for one 1 L glass bottle), WebstaurantStore ($49.49 for a case of 12 x 1 L (about $4.12 a liter); $47.01 a case when you buy 3 or more), Walmart.com ($52 for 12 x 1 L (about $4.33 a liter)) .

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Reviews are personal experiences, not research, and they never change our quality ratings. Every review is read by our team before it appears.

How we evaluated it

How it scores Our rating, metric by metric Fair, 3.2 of 5

Source 20% of the rating 4 of 5

Named spring and county, treatment described, and a full 2025 report. It names no lab, sampling date or reporting limits.
Independent testing 35% of the rating 2 of 5

Only the maker’s own table covers the still water. Outside tests found no PFAS in a sparkling cousin and a clean cap liner.
Packaging 25% of the rating 4 of 5

1 L glass with a polyethylene cap liner and no PVC or phthalates in a 2021 test; cap paint can shed microplastics, and XRF found trace cadmium in the green glass.
Trust 10% of the rating 2 of 5

A 2025 class action over trace arsenic, uranium and bromoform was dropped before service; no recalls or Prop 65 notices found. The report names no lab and carries a former owner’s name.
Value 10% of the rating 5 of 5

About $2.83 a liter from the maker, the cheapest water here; $4.12 to $4.33 a liter at WebstaurantStore and Walmart.

The rating, 3.2 of 5, is the weighted average of these scores. See how we rank bottled water and our standard.

Where to buy Stores and the prices we saw 3 stores

Amazon (opens in a new tab) approx. $2.50 for one 1 L glass bottle. A grocery listing sold and shipped by Amazon.com. On 2026-10-22 and again on 2026-10-23, for a Georgia address, Amazon said it could not ship this bottle there, and its 12-pack listing ($50.99) had no featured offer. The $2.50 may include a bottle deposit.
WebstaurantStore (opens in a new tab) approx. $49.49 for a case of 12 x 1 L (about $4.12 a liter); $47.01 a case when you buy 3 or more. A restaurant supplier. Sold by the case only; in stock on 2026-10-23.
Walmart.com (opens in a new tab) approx. $52 for 12 x 1 L (about $4.33 a liter). Marketplace seller Oasis Snacks, not Walmart or the maker; in stock on 2026-10-23.

Prices as we saw them on October 23, 2026. They change often. These links carry no tracking code and earn us nothing.

What’s in it Every ingredient, in label order 1 ingredient

Natural spring water

Who tested it What each test found, and who paid for it 4 tests

Maker’s own test Mountain Valley (2025 Water Analysis Report) 2025

Lists 18 PFAS, arsenic, nitrate, uranium, lead and glyphosate for the still water as not detected; fluoride 0.12 to 0.15 mg/L; bromate not detected to 0.0033 mg/L. More than 130 analytes. No lab, sampling date or reporting limits are named. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Independent Mamavation (EPA-certified lab, not named; the site earns affiliate income) September 2025

Tested The Mountain Valley Sparkling Water Blackberry Pomegranate, in glass, for specific PFAS and found none detected. It is a different product from this still water. Six of 15 sparkling products had no detection. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Independent Defend Our Health and the Ecology Center, as reported by Mamavation July 2021

Tested the cap liners of about 300 glass-bottled drinks for phthalates and PVC. The Mountain Valley Spring Water was in the clean group, with mostly polyethylene liners. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Independent Lead Safe Mama (handheld XRF screening of the glass, not the water; the site earns affiliate income) April 2022

Screened a Mountain Valley green glass bottle: no lead, 17 ppm cadmium and 21 ppm antimony in 2022; 86 ppm lead and 11 ppm cadmium in a 2017 bottle. It calls these levels safe by all standards. It is a surface screening of the glass, not a test for what leaches into the water. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Who paid, and why it matters

Independent The tester took no money from the maker for it: a consumer group, a journalist, a university or a regulator.
Paid certification An outside lab or certifier tested or listed it, and the maker paid for that.
Maker’s own test A lab report or certificate of analysis the maker commissioned and published.

A certification is a floor, not a verdict: it checks what its program checks and nothing else. We weigh tests by someone with no stake in the result most.

What people ask Worries raised online and elsewhere, and what we found 6 questions

Does the still water contain PFAS?: The maker says no, in a table with no lab named. No outside lab has published a result for it. Mamavation found none in a Mountain Valley sparkling water in 2025, and the brand is not in FDA’s or Consumer Reports’ tests. We rate it on the maker’s report plus those related results, and it would move up with an independent test.
Was Mountain Valley sued over contaminants?: Yes, in a marketing-claims case. Nadel v. Primo Water Corporation (opens in a new tab) (S.D. Fla., filed 11 August 2025) cited a July 2025 test, by an unnamed lab, of the 5-gallon glass product. It reported arsenic at 0.16 µg/L, uranium at 0.21, bromoform at 0.15 and cadmium at 0.08, against legal limits of 10, 30, 80 (total trihalomethanes) and 5; the cadmium is twice California’s stricter 0.04 µg/L goal. The complaint also said the 2023 report was the last one published (complaint (opens in a new tab); ClassAction.org summary (opens in a new tab)). The plaintiff dropped the case without prejudice on 8 November 2025, before any defendant was served, after the court refused more time to expand the complaint; the court closed it on 12 November with no ruling. The maker’s 2025 report lists all four as not detected but gives no reporting limits, so the two may not conflict, as the complaint itself notes. The report we read carries a February 2026 stamp in its web address, so it appeared after the suit.
Does ozone treatment leave bromate?: Ozone can form bromate from the bromide in water. The maker’s report shows bromate from not detected to 3.3 µg/L in the still water, under the 10 µg/L limit.
Who owns it, and whose lab made the report?: The PDF footer names BlueTriton Brands, Inc., and the maker’s pages now link to Primo Brands. The report does not name its lab.
Does the green glass carry lead or cadmium?: In the glass, yes, in small amounts. Lead Safe Mama’s 2022 XRF screening (opens in a new tab) found no lead, 17 ppm cadmium and 21 ppm antimony in the glass; its 2017 bottle (opens in a new tab) read 86 ppm lead and 11 ppm cadmium. These are readings of the bottle, not the water, and the screening is not a leach test. The maker’s report lists lead and cadmium in the water as not detected.
Is glass free of plastic?: No. ANSES found more plastic particles (opens in a new tab) in water bottled in glass than in plastic, probably from cap paint, though counts for water were low either way. A 2021 test found Mountain Valley’s cap liner free of PVC and phthalates.

Why we chose it What put it on our list 4 points

The maker’s 2025 Water Analysis Report is long and specific. PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and 13 other PFAS, plus arsenic, nitrate as N, uranium, lead and glyphosate, are all listed as “ND” (not detected). It shows bromate, an ozone by-product, from not detected to 3.3 µg/L against a 10 µg/L limit.
The source and treatment are named: Mountain Valley Springs in Garland County, Arkansas, then a storage silo, microfiltration, and ultraviolet and/or ozone disinfection.
Independent checks on related products are clean. Mamavation’s 2025 PFAS test found none in a Mountain Valley sparkling water, and a 2021 test of glass-bottle caps found no PVC or phthalates in the liner of Mountain Valley Spring Water.
The maker’s own store lists a 12-pack of 1 L glass bottles at $33.99 on 2026-10-23, about $2.83 a liter, the cheapest water here. Minerals are stated: total dissolved solids 210 mg/L, calcium 65 to 70, magnesium 6.1 to 7.2 and sodium 1.7 to 2.5 mg/L, pH 7.3 to 8.1.

Trade-offs What to weigh before you buy 6 points

The report is the maker’s own. It names no lab, no sampling date and no reporting limits, and it compares PFAS with a 5 ng/L industry level, while the EPA’s 2024 limit for PFOA and PFOS is 4 ng/L. This brand is not among the 197 samples in FDA’s 2023 to 2024 PFAS survey or the 47 products Consumer Reports tested in 2020, so no outside lab has published a result for the still water.
Glass is not plastic-free. A 2025 study from France’s food-safety agency (ANSES) found 4.5 plastic particles per liter in water bottled in glass, against 1.6 in plastic bottles and cartons, and says they probably came from the paint on metal caps. ANSES calls the water counts relatively low whatever the container, and says it cannot judge what the counts mean for health.
It is heavy to buy: the store lists a 12-pack at about 41 lb (18.7 kg) shipping weight. Third-party sellers on Walmart.com listed the same 12-pack at $52 to $60 on 2026-10-23.
The report’s footer still reads BlueTriton Brands, Inc., while the maker’s pages now link to Primo Brands. Neither names a lab.
A 2025 class action cited a July 2025 test of the 5-gallon glass product that found trace arsenic, uranium, bromoform and cadmium, all under legal limits, and said the 2023 report was the last one published. The plaintiff dropped it in November 2025, before any defendant was served. No lab we can name has published a result for the 1 L bottle.
The bottle is green glass. Lead Safe Mama’s handheld XRF screening of the glass, not the water, read 86 ppm lead and 11 ppm cadmium in a 2017 bottle and no lead, 17 ppm cadmium and 21 ppm antimony in a 2022 one. It calls those levels safe by all standards and says trace metals are typical in tinted glass; clear glass avoids the question.

What to know Details worth knowing first

Mountain Valley is spring water from Garland County, Arkansas, sold mostly in glass. We list it because its maker publishes a long, current report that names the source and the treatment and shows 18 PFAS, arsenic and uranium as not detected, and because outside tests of related products came out clean. Our guide to what PFAS are explains why those lines matter.

The weak spot is that the report is the maker’s own. It names no lab and no reporting limits, and no outside lab has published a result for the still water. Glass has a catch too: a 2025 French study found more plastic particles in glass-bottled water than in plastic, traced to cap paint. A 2021 test did find this brand’s cap liner free of PVC and phthalates. See our microplastics guidance.

For everyday drinking, a certified home filter is usually cheaper and creates less waste. Our guide to what is in your water is the place to start, and the guide to tap versus bottled water says when bottled is the better call. This water suits boil-water advisories, emergencies and a plain preference for glass.

What we checked Each claim, and how sure we are of it 5 checks

How Mountain Valley Spring Water, 1 L glass bottles measures up against our bottled water criteria
What we checked	What we found
A water-quality report Maker’s claim	A five-page 2025 Water Analysis Report on the maker’s site covers more than 130 analytes, including arsenic, nitrate and nitrite, uranium, lead, glyphosate and 18 PFAS. It names no lab and no sampling date. The PDF footer reads BlueTriton Brands, Inc. (the maker’s pages now link to Primo Brands).
Low PFAS Maker’s claim	All 18 PFAS are listed as ND. The report does not give its reporting limits, and its PFAS rows compare against 5 ng/L, an industry level. No independent PFAS test of the still water; a sparkling product had none detected.
Glass or aluminum, cap and liner stated Not verified	Glass is the main pack (the maker also sells 16 oz and 750 mL aluminum, and PET). Cap and liner materials are not stated on any page we opened; a 2021 NGO test found a polyethylene liner and no PVC or phthalates.
A named source and treatment Maker’s claim	Mountain Valley Springs, Garland County, Arkansas. Treatment: storage silo holding filtered source water, microfiltration, ultraviolet and/or ozone disinfection, then bottling.
Minerals stated Maker’s claim	Still water: total dissolved solids 210 mg/L, calcium 65 to 70, magnesium 6.1 to 7.2, sodium 1.7 to 2.5, potassium ND to 1.2, sulfate 5.2 to 8.2 mg/L, fluoride 0.12 to 0.15 mg/L, pH 7.3 to 8.1.

What the labels mean

Verified We opened an independent record that confirms it: a certifier’s listing, a regulator’s list or a lab report. It is linked under Sources.
Maker’s claim The maker says so on its own page or label. We read it but found no independent record.
Not verified We looked and could not confirm it, or the maker does not say. Treat it as unknown.

Sources Where our facts come from 14 sources

Mountain Valley 1 L spring water in glass (12-pack), maker’s store. Maker’s page. $33.99 for 12, read from the store’s public product feed on 2026-10-23. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Mountain Valley 2025 Water Analysis Report (PDF). Maker’s page. The maker’s own table. It names no lab. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Mamavation: Sparkling waters tested for PFAS (September 2025). Test report. 15 sparkling products, EPA-certified lab, one sample per brand. The Mountain Valley sparkling water was non-detect. The site earns affiliate income. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Mamavation: glass bottle caps tested for phthalates and PVC (July 2021). Test report. Reports the Defend Our Health and Ecology Center cap study of about 300 drinks. The site earns affiliate income. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
FDA Shares Testing Results for PFAS in Bottled Water (April 14, 2025). Independent source. 197 samples bought at US retail in 2023 and 2024. Mountain Valley is not among them, so this survey says nothing about it. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
FDA: brand key for the 2023 to 2024 PFAS bottled water samples (PDF). Independent source. Lists each of the 197 samples by brand: 62 brands, none of them Mountain Valley. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Consumer Reports: What’s Really in Your Bottled Water? (2020). Independent source. 47 products tested for 30 PFAS and four metals. Mountain Valley is not on the list of products tested. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
ANSES: the caps of glass bottles contaminate beverages with microplastics (June 2025). Independent source. Reports the study by Chaïb and colleagues in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 2025. It covers beverages sold in France, not this brand. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
EPA: PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation. Independent source. Gives the 4.0 ng/L limits for PFOA and PFOS set in April 2024. EPA proposed rule changes in May 2026 that keep those two limits. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
California Attorney General: Prop 65 60-day notice search. Certifier or regulator listing. Searched by alleged violator on 23 Oct 2026 for “Mountain Valley”, “Primo Brands” and “BlueTriton”: no notice. openFDA food enforcement showed no report for the water either. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Nadel v. Primo Water Corporation, S.D. Fla. 9:25-cv-80993 (CourtListener docket). Independent source. Class action filed 11 Aug 2025 against Primo Water Corporation, Primo Water North America and Mountain Valley Spring Company, LLC. Notice of voluntary dismissal 8 Nov 2025 (Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i), no defendant served); order dismissing without prejudice and closing the case 12 Nov 2025. We found no refiled case in CourtListener’s archive, which is not complete. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Nadel v. Primo Water Corp., complaint (PDF from the CourtListener RECAP archive). Independent source. 47 pages. Cites a July 2025 test, lab not named in the text, of Mountain Valley 5-Gallon Glass: arsenic 0.16, uranium 0.21, bromoform 0.15 and cadmium 0.08 µg/L, all under federal limits. One side’s account, never tested in court. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
ClassAction.org: Class action lawsuit claims Mountain Valley Spring Water contaminated with carcinogens (29 Aug 2025). Independent source. A summary of the complaint. It gives no figures and says the test claims rest on unnamed independent lab testing. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Lead Safe Mama: Mountain Valley green glass bottle, 2022 and 2017 XRF screenings. Independent source. The 2017 reading: 86 ppm lead and 11 ppm cadmium in the glass; arsenic and mercury not detected. The 2022 page is linked in the testing list. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Alternatives Other options to compare 2 options

Evian in glass French spring water with the best test data of the glass waters: no PFAS in an NSF report or in 14 FDA samples. About $4.24 a liter at one US grocer.
A certified home water filter Usually cheaper per liter and lower-waste, with no bottles to carry or recycle. Pick one certified for what is in your water.

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