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Ask which bottled water has the most magnesium and the answer isn’t the famous name. Apollinaris leads the field at 120 mg/L, ahead of Gerolsteiner (108 mg/L) and Badoit (80 mg/L). Real numbers, worth knowing if you’re picking a bottle for its mineral content. Just keep them in scale: even the best of these covers well under half an adult’s daily magnesium need in a full liter, so bottled water stays a minor player next to food.
Which bottled waters have the most magnesium?
Every number below comes straight from each bottler’s own published water analysis, not a lab retest or a marketing claim. Fifteen brands in this set publish a magnesium figure; Vichy Catalan doesn’t, though it shows up later in the sodium conversation. Sort by magnesium and a few names swap places: Apollinaris and Gerolsteiner both outrank France’s better-known still waters, and two Russian therapeutic waters, Essentuki No.17 and No.4, land inside the top half.
The pattern behind the ranking isn’t random. The waters at the top are drawn from mineral-rich springs, often naturally carbonated, that pick up magnesium and calcium as they pass through volcanic or dolomitic rock over years underground. The waters at the bottom, Voss and Mountain Valley among them, come from sources chosen for softness and a clean taste, low in dissolved minerals by design. Neither is better, they’re built for different jobs.
| Water | Magnesium (mg/L) | Calcium (mg/L) | Sodium (mg/L) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollinaris | 120 | 90 | 470 |
| Gerolsteiner | 108 | 348 | 118 |
| Badoit | 80 | 153 | 180 |
| Essentuki No.17 | 75 | 125 | 3,350 |
| Contrex | 74.5 | 468 | 9.4 |
| S.Pellegrino | 50 | 160 | 31 |
| Essentuki No.4 | 35 | 80 | 2,500 |
| San Benedetto | 30.8 | 50.3 | 6.0 |
| Evian | 26 | 80 | 6.5 |
| Ferrarelle | 23 | 400 | 50 |
| Fiji | 15 | 18 | 18 |
| Volvic | 9 | 13 | 12 |
| Mountain Valley | 7.1 | 67 | 2.2 |
| Perrier | 6.8 | 155 | 9.5 |
| Voss | 0.61 | 2.7 | 3 |
The two Essentuki waters are worth a second look before that sodium column gets buried. More on why below.
How much magnesium does bottled water actually add?
Magnesium dissolved in water is bioavailable and does count toward your day, but the honest comparison is against food, not against nothing. The European Food Safety Authority sets an adequate intake of 350 mg a day for adult men and 300 mg for women (EFSA NDA Panel, 2015). A liter of Apollinaris, the highest water in this dataset, supplies about 34% of that for a man and 40% for a woman.
A liter of even the highest-magnesium bottled water covers well under half an adult’s daily magnesium; food still does most of the work.
Good going for a beverage, but nuts, leafy greens, whole grains and legumes carry far more magnesium per serving than any bottled water on this list. Treat a high-magnesium water as a small, steady top-up, not a substitute for eating well. It’s also a passive source: you get the same magnesium whether you’re drinking for hydration or just for taste, no extra effort beyond picking the bottle.
Does the sodium tradeoff matter?
Magnesium isn’t the only mineral riding along, and a couple of these waters carry a sodium number worth checking before you reach for a case.
Sodium to watch
Essentuki No.17: 3,350 mg/L
That’s more than double the adult sodium AI (1,500 mg a day, IOM 2004) in a single liter.
Essentuki No.17 and No.4 are sold as therapeutic mineral waters, traditionally taken in small doses, not sipped all day like a still or sparkling table water.
Apollinaris, the magnesium leader here, carries a more moderate 470 mg/L of sodium, still worth a glance if you’re watching salt closely. Most of the rest of this list, Gerolsteiner, Contrex, Fiji, Volvic among them, sit at a small fraction of the adult adequate intake per liter. Vichy Catalan doesn’t publish a magnesium number at all, but at 1,080 mg/L of sodium it belongs in this same conversation, not the magnesium one.
The lesson isn’t to avoid high-magnesium waters. It’s to read past the one number you came for. A bottle can lead the field on magnesium and still be a poor pick for someone counting sodium, and the label rarely flags that tradeoff for you.
How do I use this ranking?
Magnesium is one filter among several; calcium, sodium and total dissolved solids matter too, depending on what you’re optimizing for. The Mineral Water Comparison tool lists every water above, sortable by any column, so you can rank by magnesium, flip to sodium, or check total dissolved solids without scrolling back through this table.
None of that is a hydration question, though. That part is simpler: your body doesn’t care whether a liter carries 120 mg of magnesium or none at all. Brim sets your daily water goal from your weight, activity and climate, and logs whatever you actually drink toward it. Pick your water for its minerals; let Brim handle the goal.
Key takeaways
Apollinaris (120 mg/L), Gerolsteiner (108 mg/L) and Badoit (80 mg/L) top the magnesium ranking among common bottled waters.
Even the highest water covers well under half an adult’s daily magnesium need (EFSA, 2015); food remains the bigger source.
Essentuki No.17 and No.4 carry huge sodium loads (3,350 and 2,500 mg/L) and are meant as therapeutic waters, not daily table water.
Brim sets your water goal from weight, activity and climate, not mineral content. Pick water for minerals; let Brim handle the goal.
Frequently asked
Which bottled water has the most magnesium?
Among common bottled waters, Apollinaris leads at 120 mg/L, followed by Gerolsteiner (108 mg/L) and Badoit (80 mg/L), per each bottler’s published water analysis.
Is bottled mineral water a good source of magnesium?
It’s a minor one. A liter of even the highest-magnesium water here covers well under half an adult’s daily magnesium need (EFSA, 2015); food supplies far more per serving.
Are Essentuki mineral waters safe to drink every day?
Not at typical table-water volumes. Essentuki No.17 and No.4 carry 3,350 and 2,500 mg/L of sodium, more than an adult’s full daily allowance (IOM, 2004) in a single liter. They’re traditionally taken in small, guided doses, not sipped all day.
How much sodium is too much in a high-magnesium water?
Adults have an adequate intake of about 1,500 mg of sodium a day (IOM, 2004). Most magnesium-rich waters here, Apollinaris included, use only a small share of that; the Essentuki waters are the exception.
Does Brim track the mineral content of the water I log?
No. Brim tracks fluid toward your daily water goal, set from your weight, activity and climate, not mineral content. Use the Mineral Water Comparison tool separately if you’re picking a water for its magnesium or sodium.
Keep reading
Sources
- 1.EFSA NDA Panel, "Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for magnesium," EFSA Journal (2015)
- 2.US National Academies (IOM), "Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride and Sulfate" (2004)
- 3.Each bottler’s own published water analysis (Apollinaris, Gerolsteiner, Badoit, Contrex, Essentuki and others), compiled in our mineral water comparison tool
