Glass Water Bottles: BPA Free Water Bottles

by Elizabeth on October 12, 2010

I want to answer a question that has been coming up more and more lately related to our stainless steel water bottles post: Glass Water Bottles. People like to buy glass water bottles because they aren’t made in China, are BPA free, and don’t result in a metallic taste. I personally haven’t had a chance to try all the glass water bottles out there, so instead I’ve compiled from other reviews and resources to put together this post about glass water bottles.

Best Glass Water Bottles

The best glass water bottle is the Lifefactory 22 ounce bottle according to Amazon.com reviewers. The Lifefactory 22 ounce glass water bottle has several unique features – notably it has a 100% silicone case. This makes it harder to break this bottle. It has a wide mouth so you can easily clean, add ice, and drink from it. Plus, because of the silicone grip if there’s  condensation on the bottle it won’t be slippery. And it’s dishwasher safe (even the silicone sleeve). This bottle has the best reviews on Amazon. (Also note that they make a glass baby bottle.) These bottles are made in France with the Silicone sleeves made in the United States. You can buy the bottle here for less than $22.

Glass Water Bottle Lifefactory

Other glass water bottles

The Takeya glass water bottle comes in sizes 16 ounces and 25 ounces and features a silicone sleeve. They also have a wide mouth. Takeya glass bottles are made in Japan.

For the best deal buy 6 Aquasana bottles for under $24. These bottles also have wide mouths but they don’t come with silicone sleeves. You can, however buy an AquaKoozy designed just for these bottles. These bottles are a little larger than most – holding 27 ounces of water.

Bormioli Rocco Giara Bottles are made in Italy (though there is some indication that some are made in the United States). They come in the largest size of the glass water bottles at 33 ounces and there are lots of pretty colors.

The Love Water Bottle allows you to write on your own bottle. However, these bottles are made in China.

Glass Water Bottles Made in the U.S.A

(or at least not made in China)

Glass water bottles that are made in America include the Metro bottle and Retro 32 ounce bottle by Be Truly You.  These American made bottles are the only bottles I can find that are made in the US. Even though it’s tough to find a bottle made in the US, the glass bottles listed above, with the exception of Love Bottle are not made in China.

Why Use a Glass Water Bottle

With a glass water bottle you know what you’re getting – a BPA free water bottle that’s durable and dishwasher safe. People tend to prefer glass bottles to stainless steel water bottles because they are made in countries other than China. Plus, if you don’t like the slight metallic taste that comes with some stainless bottles you’d likely want to try a glass bottle.

Downsides to Glass Water Bottles

The biggest problem with glass bottles is that they break more easily than stainless steel. The silicone cases are supposed to help, but because they break so easily a glass water bottle may not be the best choice for children.

What to Considering when You Buy Glass Water Bottles

  • Size: The Sizes of water bottles made of glass vary – ranging from 22 ounces to 33 ounces. (Though there are also very large containers, see below.) Depending on your access to water during the course of the day you may want a larger bottle.
  • Sling/Protection: The best bottles have a built-in protection. But depending on your lifestyle and use for the bottle you may be fine with no sling or protection.
  • Where It’s Made and Manufactured: As previously mentioned, many people like glass water bottles because they aren’t made in China. If this is important to you consider the bottles that are manufactured in France, Italy, or the US.
  • Use of the Bottle: Are you planning on using your glass water bottle for sports? Hiking? Sitting at your desk? Around your house? You may want a wide-mouth bottle if you are more active and will want a protective case if you expect the bottle might drop during your activities.

Large 3 Gallon Glass Water Bottle or 5 Gallon Glass Water Bottle

If you’re looking for a large glass water bottle consider a 3 gallon or 5 gallon (sometimes called a glass carboy). These are great for storing water as well as more making homemade beer and wine.

Can You Just Reuse a Glass Water Bottle?

You can certainly choose to reuse a glass water bottle from another container. Or you can buy a 12 pack of Voss Water which is packaged in 27 ounces glass bottles and just reuse those bottles.

Have you purchased a glass water bottle? If so what did you think?

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link to Amazon.com. This is a good thing and doesn’t affect you – but helps us pay the bills!

Recommended Reading:

  1. Stainless Steel Water Bottles: Smackdown
  2. Giveaway: Free CamelBak Stainless Steel Water Bottle
  3. RIP: BPA Water Bottles
  4. CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle Water Bottle Review
  5. BPA-Free Water Bottle Winner

{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }

Adeline Farrelly October 13, 2010 at 3:58 am

Hi there
Reading your article I think you might be interested in NOTHING!!!
The inert qualities of glass means nothing toxic leaches from glass into the products inside. There is nothing needed on the inside of the glass bottle (like a plastic lining) to protect food and drinks. NOTHING’s going in or coming out of glass. Cheers Adeline

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Elizabeth October 13, 2010 at 8:40 am

@ Adeline – The NOTHING glass site is really cool. Do you have anything set up for the United States?

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Natasha October 13, 2010 at 7:55 pm

Hi there!

Just wanted to drop you a line about Rivé’s BPA-free glass water bottles. These bottles are earth-friendly, safe, and beautiful!

http://riveusa.com/

Thanks for raising awareness about the benefits of glass.

:-)

–Natasha

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Louie October 21, 2010 at 12:49 pm

Specialized just came out with the Purist bottle. It has a microlayer of silicon dioxide (SIO2). This gives you the benifits of drinking from a glasss and the durrability of a plastic bottle.
Something to check out. BPA Free LDPE #4 Plastic, so no harmfull chemicals.
-Louie

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Daniela October 27, 2010 at 8:05 pm

mmm… I have to admit I still feel uncomfortable with glass bottles, and especially giving it to the clumsy hands of kids. I found these incredibly cute BFA-free bottles (600 ml so they’re not too heavy) The drawings are nature inspired and the ink used is lead-free.

http://www.stylishnomad.com/green-travel/stainless-steel-bottles.html

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Elizabeth November 16, 2010 at 9:43 am

@ Louie – thanks for the tip about the lead free bottle

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Geoff December 30, 2010 at 2:10 am

Just curious, what’s with the China hate?

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Jeff July 6, 2011 at 2:10 am

Unless you havent noticed, China is the land of poisonous products

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Elizabeth January 3, 2011 at 10:42 am

@Geoff – A lot of people are concerned about manufacturing practices in China so they prefer not to buy products made in China.

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Rob March 1, 2011 at 4:12 pm

“Tap water” glass bottles are super strong. They are made out of a Pyrex type glass that is safe for cooking and is extra strong. They have been dropped from a table height both full and empty onto concrete and ceramic tile and onto sidewalks from stading hight and have not broken. Plus they are really sylish and fun with the cheeky messages they have. I alwasy have a big on in my fridge at home and the mid size one on my desk in my office.

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Elizabeth March 2, 2011 at 7:22 am

@ Rob Thanks for your thoughts about glass water bottles.

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Desiree Gatin March 30, 2011 at 10:54 am

Can i use any glass water bottle such as an arizona ice tea glass? it says 25 on the bottom and made in the USA. i am a very green person i live a green and energy efficiant life style. i recently stopped using stainless steal becasue the tast of the water was not pleasent and i was getting bad colds and throte infections becasue of them (they can hold bactieria in the lids). now i just glass and they keep the water fresh and tasing good- arizona ice tea bottles have been the best they are thick and i can drop them off a desk and they will survive (only tired once lol ) Thanks so much for all your information- Keep Smilng and Stay Green !

Desiree Gatin

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Elizabeth March 30, 2011 at 11:02 am

@ Desiree – It should be no problem to reuse that glass water bottle. Just make sure you clean it (especially the cap) thoroughly to keep it free from bacteria.

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Kim Rowe April 19, 2011 at 7:04 pm

Just ordered from this company. Made is US by an artist. Beautiful!

bottlesupglass.com/

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Gayle February 23, 2012 at 10:35 pm

Kim, do you like the bottles? How are the caps?

Thank you for your recommendation.

And, thank you for your site, Elizabeth.

Gayle

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Gayle February 23, 2012 at 10:37 pm

Whoops! Just checked their price. $34 plus shipping is too pricey for me.

Thanks, anyway.

Gayle

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Elizabeth February 24, 2012 at 10:16 am

Well, $34 for a glass bottle isn’t cheap, but it will actually save you hundreds in the cost of bottled water (not to mention health care costs). And shipping on Amazon is free

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Elizabeth April 20, 2011 at 9:07 am

@ Kim, Thanks for the suggestion.

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escortberlin August 2, 2011 at 12:44 am

Although I usually prefer more stable, less breakable water bottles, this one above is looking indeed very, very stylish. :D

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Tyler August 3, 2011 at 1:17 pm

This is a great looking water bottle above. I love the case that wraps around it.

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play toys for kids September 16, 2011 at 9:57 pm

Yeah, I agree. The water bottle is cute and presentable..

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jfields03 October 19, 2011 at 8:06 pm

I think I would much prefer using glass. So much cleaner than plastic. Great idea! J

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Bryan McKenzie October 20, 2011 at 7:25 pm

I’ve started storing my water in glass containters as opposed to plastic. It sounds silly but I don’t think it’s healthy to be drinking out of all those plastic bottles that can be exposed to very warm temperatures in transit and possibly get stuff in your water that should not be there. Plus using glass is just more environmentally friendly.

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Diane November 8, 2011 at 2:03 pm

verry good nice articel

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escort November 8, 2011 at 7:16 pm

verry nice the articel. thanks

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Harold December 13, 2011 at 5:44 pm

Thank you for sharing this article, Glass Water Bottles is very healty

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Cheri December 14, 2011 at 4:40 pm

Just thought I’d let anyone (including the author of this article) who might be interested in purchasing the Aquasana bottles, that I just received my set of 6 today and on the bottoms of them was a small gold sticker that said “made in china”. I wish I would have known, as I was hoping to go healthier by switching to glass bottles. Now I’m not sure if I’m helping or hurting my health by switching to these bottles. Sadly, you really can’t trust what you see, read or hear since there is so much conflicting (and cover up) information out there. But china has been known to poison our food, our jewelry, our building materials, so why not our glass?? I’m heading over to Amazon right now to leave a review to at least warn/inform others.

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Casey December 27, 2011 at 5:27 am

Cheri Thank you for posting. Sorry to hear that you were caught off guard by the China made Aquasana bottles. I was just about to order some myself until I cam across your message. I guess I am back to searching as the $30+ for a single bottle from bottles up seems rather steep, and the Rive bottles say they have a factory in China as well.

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ramoo March 3, 2012 at 9:54 am

EVERYONE SHOULD USE BOTTLES UP GLASS BOTTLES!!!!

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Elizabeth March 3, 2012 at 9:59 am

Glad to hear that you like glass water bottles so much Ramoo. What about them specifically do you like best?

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Glass bottles for kids March 13, 2012 at 6:16 pm

They are dishwasher safe AND They are free of BPA, phthalates, PVC, polycarbonate, lead and latex. The glass is made in France, the silicone sleeves in the USA and the lids in Poland and the USA for a truly quality global product.

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ami March 20, 2012 at 9:02 am

hi all
Am researching at the minute to develop a glass water bottle …is ther anything thats missing that one would like to see in a new innovative product such as a glass water bottle which provides clean drinking water for people throughout the day? what are peoples perceptions on drinking tap water?
any input would be extremley helpful
thanks

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Elizabeth March 20, 2012 at 9:05 am

Hi Ami, I think that people who use water bottles don’t mind tap water. Personally, I don’ t love filters and they can get bulky.

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