- Legal provisions for the national regulation of bottled water include making sure that the food product is not tainted, nor its labels misleading. According to the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), the standards of quality and labeling for public water supplies are protected and governed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). IBWA "has been a long-standing proponent of additional federal regulations for bottled water and is active at all levels of the local, state and federal government assisting in the development of such regulations." The association has been in the business of protecting bottled water supplies since 1958.
- The Hammer Provision of 1996, 21 USC §349 is the most well-known body of legislation for drinking-water standards. The Hammer Provision is under the the direction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services and is part of the FDA legal standards noted above. Along with federal provisions, there are also state standards and industry standards that regulate bottled water that is packaged and sold in the United States.
- State governments use several approaches in their regulation of bottled water: the federal (or FDA) model, the environmental model or a combination of the two models. The federal model treats bottled water solely as a food product, which means it may also be required to meet certain state-specific standards of labeling and quality. The environmental model considers regulations under a state's environmental protection or natural resources department. When both models are combined, regulations typically begin with the management of the water source, cover the way water is packaged and labeled in compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 and may include state inspection of products at certified testing laboratories.
- The IBWA uses some additional measures, detailed in what is called the IBWA Model Code, to help make certain of the safety and quality of bottled water. Members of the IBWA may be subjected to annual unannounced plant inspections conducted by an independent third-party organization. During these inspections, the plants are checked for compliance with all applicable regulations, which may and should include plant construction and design, sanitary facilities and controls, sanitary operations, equipment and procedures, process and controls and personnel. There are also other industry requirements for the bottled water business that in many cases are even more stringent than federal or state laws.
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Some bottled water is packaged in glass containers, but most is packaged in plastic. The containers are all 100 percent recyclable and are sanitized according to industry regulations before reuse.
The goals of these strict rules, regulations and guidelines are to minimize potential health hazards by making certain that the general public consumes safe, potable drinking water at all times.
