Let me paint you a picture. It's a Tuesday evening. You've just unpacked the weekly shop, and tucked in among the groceries are the usual multipack of 1.5-litre bottles — four or five of them, maybe more if it's been a sporty week or the kids have been going through them faster than usual. You don't think twice about it. It's water. It's safe. It's what you do.
I used to think the same. Until I started looking more closely at what was actually inside those bottles... and what buying them was really costing my family, in more ways than one.
The truth is, bottled water in Ireland has a serious image problem that the marketing simply doesn't show you. And once you know what researchers have found, it's very hard to go back to reaching for that plastic bottle without a second thought.
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The Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About at the Checkout
A landmark study conducted across France found that 78% of bottled water samples contained microplastics. Not trace amounts in a handful of brands — the majority. And Ireland, as a fellow EU member state, has no regulation requiring bottled water producers to test for microplastics, let alone remove them.
How do microplastics get into a sealed bottle of water? More easily than you'd think. Every time a plastic bottle is exposed to heat, light, pressure, or the everyday friction of opening and closing the cap, tiny particles shed from the plastic itself directly into the water inside. That multipack sitting in your car boot on the drive home from the supermarket on a warm day? The bottles that have been stacked in a warehouse for weeks? All of it increases the exposure.
Microplastics aren't just an environmental nuisance. Early research is raising genuinely alarming flags. These particles are small enough to move through human tissue. Studies have linked microplastic exposure to inflammation, oxidative stress that damages cells and DNA, hormonal disruption through the toxic additives plastics carry like BPA and phthalates, gut microbiome disruption, and in the most concerning research, evidence that particles may cross the placenta. For anyone with children, or anyone who is pregnant, that last point is not something you can easily brush aside.
And microplastics are only part of the picture. Across Europe, tests have detected PFAS — so-called "forever chemicals" — in 10 out of 19 well-known mineral water brands, with levels in some samples running 32 times above recommended safety thresholds. PFAS don't break down in the body. They accumulate. They have been linked to kidney and testicular cancers, immune suppression, hormonal and thyroid disruption, and developmental issues in children. They have been found in human breast milk. The EU won't require member states to monitor PFAS in water until 2026, which means right now, your bottled water has no obligation to be tested for them.
This is the product we've been told is the safe, convenient alternative. 🤢
"But What About the Deposit Return Scheme?"
Since Ireland launched its deposit return scheme, I've heard a lot of people feel better about buying bottled water. And I genuinely understand it — the intention is good, and reducing plastic waste in the environment matters. But here's what the scheme doesn't change: it has absolutely no impact on what goes into your body before you return the bottle.
A bottle that is returned and recycled still delivered microplastics into your water while you were drinking from it. The plastic in the bottle still shed particles during storage, transport, and use. Recycling the container at the end of its life does not undo any of that. The deposit return scheme is a waste management solution, not a health solution. Conflating the two is one of the most expensive misunderstandings an Irish family can make.
And speaking of expense...
Let's Talk About the Real Cost of Bottled Water
The average Irish family of four spends around €15 per week on bottled water. It doesn't feel like much when you're putting it in the trolley. But when you add it up across a full year, that's €780 annually leaving your household for water. Over two years, you've spent €1,560 — and that figure doesn't include the cost of lugging the bottles home, storing them, or taking them back under the deposit scheme.
Now compare that to what a properly certified home filtration system actually costs to run.
The ArkkZ Water Filtration System by Renewell Water uses Reverse Osmosis technology — widely considered the gold standard in home water purification — to remove up to 99% of contaminants from your drinking water, including microplastics, heavy metals, chlorine, and PFAS. The annual filter service runs at €99 per year. Every two years, there is a more comprehensive service at €119.
Running the numbers over a two-year period:
| Year 1 | Year 2 | 2-Year Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottled Water (family of 4) | €780 | €780 | €1,560 |
| ArkkZ Annual Service | €99 | €99 + €119 | €317 |
| Difference | €1,243 saved |
Over two years, a family switching from bottled water to the ArkkZ system keeps more than €1,200 in their pocket. That number compounds every year they keep using it. And unlike bottled water, the ArkkZ delivers unlimited filtered water directly from your tap, 24 hours a day, without a trip to the supermarket, without plastic waste, and without microplastics making their way into every glass your children drink.
Reverse Osmosis:
Why It's the Answer Researchers Keep Coming Back To
In the world of water filtration, there is a clear hierarchy of effectiveness. Jug filters improve taste. Carbon filters catch chlorine and some larger particles. But Reverse Osmosis, which forces water through a semi-permeable membrane at a molecular level, is the technology that consistently removes what the others leave behind.
Independent testing confirms that properly maintained RO systems remove up to 99% of microplastics, along with PFAS compounds, heavy metals like lead and arsenic, nitrates, chlorine and its byproducts, and dissolved solids that affect taste and odour. It is the same core technology used in medical and pharmaceutical settings where water purity is non-negotiable.
When Simon Newell founded Renewell Water back in 2002, it was Reverse Osmosis that changed everything for him personally. He had been experiencing skin and general health issues that he couldn't quite attribute to any obvious cause. When he investigated the quality of the tap water he had been drinking daily, and then discovered what RO filtration could do, the difference was, in his own words, life-changing. That personal experience is what drove him to spend the next 24 years helping more than 20,000 Irish and UK families access the same quality of water in their own homes.
That heritage and commitment is exactly why Renewell Water has become the Number 1 rated water filtration company in Ireland. You can read what customers across the country are saying about their experience at renewellwater.com/reviews.
What Happens When You Make the Switch
The practical difference is bigger than people expect. The first thing most families notice is the taste. Filtered water through an RO system simply tastes cleaner and lighter, with none of the flat, slightly chemical edge that tap water or even bottled water often carries. Cooking with it makes a noticeable difference to food and hot drinks. And the peace of mind that comes from knowing your children are drinking water that has had contaminants removed at a molecular level — that part is harder to put a number on, but it matters enormously.
The ArkkZ system is compact, designed to sit neatly under your kitchen sink, and connects directly to your existing cold water supply. There is no heavy lifting, no running out, no plastic bottles stacking up in the corner of the kitchen. Just clean water, on tap, whenever you need it.
ArkkZ Water Filtration System
ArkkZ is an under sink reverse osmosis water filter system. Compact tankless system with direct fast flow, up to 99,99% contaminants removal, low drain ratio providing unlimited safe drinking tap water.
The Bottom Line
We live in a country where the water conversation has become complicated. Tap water has real issues, from trihalomethane violations to areas under boil notices. Bottled water, which we assumed was the clean solution, is now confirmed to carry microplastics and potentially PFAS, with regulation still years behind the science. And the deposit return scheme, while welcome for waste reduction, does nothing to protect what goes into your body.
The smartest and most cost-effective move for an Irish family right now is to take control of their water quality at home. Not by spending €780 a year on plastic bottles that may be delivering microplastics with every sip, but by investing in a filtration system that removes what you can't see and delivers genuinely clean water at a fraction of the running cost.
The ArkkZ by Renewell Water is exactly that system. Ireland's most trusted water filtration brand, built on 24 years of experience and a founding belief that better health starts with what you drink.
As Simon always says: buy the filter, don't be the filter.
Your family deserves clean water. And now you know exactly what it costs to make that happen — and what it's costing you not to.