Refreshe water is safe to drink. It’s a purified bottled water brand sold at Safeway and other Albertsons-owned grocery stores, manufactured by Better Living Brands LLC. The water starts as municipal tap water from Fort Worth, Texas, then undergoes additional purification before bottling.
Where Refreshe Water Comes From
Refreshe is labeled “purified drinking water,” which means it starts as a public water supply and then gets filtered beyond what your local water treatment plant does. In this case, the source is the municipal supply in Fort Worth, Texas. That tap water already meets EPA drinking water standards before the company does any additional processing.
This is a common approach in the bottled water industry. Brands like Aquafina and Dasani also start with municipal water and purify it further. The word “purified” on the label is regulated by the FDA and requires that the water meet specific purity standards, regardless of where it originally came from.
How the Water Is Purified
Purified bottled water typically goes through a multi-step filtration process. While Refreshe doesn’t detail its exact methods on the label, standard purification for this category involves reverse osmosis, carbon filtration, or a combination of both, often followed by a disinfection step like ozonation or ultraviolet light.
Reverse osmosis works by forcing water under high pressure through membranes with holes so small that almost nothing except water molecules can pass through. Salts, heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, and most trace chemicals like pesticides and pharmaceutical residues get left behind. This is one of the most effective filtration methods available and produces water that’s cleaner than most tap supplies.
PFAS and Contaminant Concerns
One of the bigger safety questions with any bottled water right now involves PFAS, the group of synthetic chemicals sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily in the environment or the body. The FDA tested 197 bottled water samples collected from retail stores across the U.S. between 2023 and 2024, covering purified, spring, artesian, and mineral waters.
Of those 197 samples, only 10 had detectable levels of PFAS, and none exceeded the maximum contaminant levels set by the EPA for public drinking water. The domestic samples with detectable PFAS contained between one and four different PFAS compounds each. Refreshe was not specifically named in the FDA’s published results, but the overall findings suggest that purified bottled water as a category performs well on PFAS testing. Reverse osmosis, if used in the purification process, is particularly effective at removing these chemicals.
BPA-Free Packaging
Refreshe bottles are BPA-free, meaning they’re produced without the intentional addition of bisphenol A, a chemical that was once common in plastics and has been linked to hormonal disruption. The bottles are made from PET plastic, the same type used by most major bottled water brands. PET is considered safe for single-use food and beverage packaging by the FDA.
That said, all plastic bottles can leach trace amounts of chemicals when exposed to heat. If you leave a Refreshe bottle in a hot car or in direct sunlight for extended periods, the risk of chemical migration from the plastic into the water increases. Storing bottled water in a cool, shaded place is a simple way to minimize any potential exposure.
pH and Mineral Content
Refreshe water has a measured pH of about 6.44, which makes it slightly acidic. For context, pure water has a neutral pH of 7.0, and most bottled waters fall somewhere between 6.0 and 8.0. A pH of 6.44 is comparable to many other purified water brands and is not a health concern for the vast majority of people. It’s far less acidic than coffee (around 5.0), orange juice (around 3.5), or soda (around 2.5).
Because the purification process strips out most dissolved minerals, purified water like Refreshe contains very little calcium, magnesium, or potassium. If you rely on bottled water as your primary water source, you won’t be getting meaningful mineral intake from it. That’s not a problem for most people who eat a varied diet, but it’s worth knowing if you’re comparing it to mineral or spring water brands that do contain trace minerals.
How It Compares to Tap Water
Refreshe is essentially tap water that’s been filtered an extra time, so in most cases it’s at least as clean as your home tap supply, and often cleaner. Whether that extra filtration is worth paying for depends on your local water quality. If you live in an area with aging pipes, lead concerns, or water advisories, bottled purified water can be a reasonable short-term alternative. If your tap water is already high quality, you’re mostly paying for convenience and packaging.
Refreshe has no public recall history with the FDA, and there are no outstanding safety warnings associated with the brand. For a budget store-brand water, it meets the same federal standards as any other purified bottled water on the shelf.