Let the big reveal begin!
This Is the Brand Behind Costco’s Kirkland Bottled Water
Published on Jun. 27, 2025
Not to completely fan-girl over a warehouse club, but do you ever just look at Costco and think, Is there anything you can’t do?
No? Just me? Well, this is embarrassing. But seriously, the fact that Costco has almost everything you could possibly want under one roof (and at relatively low prices) is somewhat of an enigma. Pick up a $4.99 rotisserie chicken, a new TV and a pair of comfy sweats at Costco, and that’s what I call a good Friday night.
The retailer is also well known for its private-label brand: Kirkland. You can find Kirkland options in just about every category, and Costco fans like to muse over which brand-name company is actually behind some of these products. There are rumors about everything from who makes Kirkland Signature Vodka to its Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Chunks, and we know who makes its Signature Grass-Fed Butter and why it’s soooo good. But which brand makes Kirkland bottled water?
Trust me when I say the answer will surprise you. Read on for that and other interesting facts about this must-have item.
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What is the brand behind Kirkland bottled water?
The manufacturer behind your rafts of Kirkland Signature bottled water is none other than Niagara Bottling. It’s a family-owned business headquartered in Diamond Bar, California, which is just east of Los Angeles. However, you can find its bottling plants across the country, from Washington State to Alabama. In fact, it’s considered the largest family-owned bottled-water company in the United States.
Since the company has so many manufacturing plants, Niagara water comes from a variety of clean, trusted sources—like wells, springs and city water supplies.
While the company has been around since 1963, it reportedly started manufacturing the Kirkland Signature bottled water at some point during the 1990s. So while the Costco food court has changed over time, that bottled-water source has been steady for decades.
Is Kirkland bottled water good quality?
Well, that depends on who you ask, but largely, yes, Kirkland bottled water is good quality. Niagara doesn’t add fluoride to its water, which is a good thing because many people already get enough of it from other sources, like tap water and toothpaste. Too much fluoride can actually lead to tooth discoloration and bone issues.
Niagara’s water (and, by association, Kirkland bottled water) has minute amounts of food-grade minerals in both the purified and alkaline varieties. They are added only for the purposes of taste and have no nutritional value. This is all on par for many bottled-water brands, and this is also a good thing—after all, water shouldn’t have a lot of additives, if any at all.
That said, there is one thing that some Costco customers aren’t crazy about: the plastic bottle itself. Some people consider the bottle to be too thin and flimsy, but they don’t have an issue with the actual contents of said bottle.
Is this type of water exclusive to Costco?
No, but it is an excellent deal here. (More on that below.) You can find the Niagara brand at many different retailers, from Kroger to 7-Eleven. Sometimes you’ll find it under the Niagara name; other times, it will be another private-label situation, where Niagara is producing the same water but labeling it with the in-house brand associated with that store.
What kind of savings can you score with Kirkland bottled water?
Kirkland Signature Purified Drinking Water comes in a 40-count of 16.9-ounce bottles for about $4.99, breaking down to roughly 12 cents a bottle. Compare that with a 24-count of the same size bottles of Target’s Good & Gather Purified Drinking Water at $3.59, which is 15 cents per bottle. And, interestingly, you can get a 24-pack of 16.9-ounce bottles under the Niagara brand name at Home Depot for $4.98 … which means you’re paying 21 cents per bottle for the same water you can get at Costco for 12 cents each. With all that in mind, I’d say Kirkland bottled water is a great value!
Costco also sells an 80-count of Kirkland Signature Purified Drinking Water, as well as a 21-count of 1-liter bottles. (For the record, there are approximately two 16.9-ounce bottles of water in every liter.)
Is there a risk of the water expiring?
It’s an important question because you want to make sure you use your bulk items before they go bad so you’re not flushing money down the drain. (Literally.) Here’s what you need to know: The FDA doesn’t require companies to put an expiration date on bottled water; however, many do anyway. It isn’t necessarily that the water itself goes bad; it’s that the plastic bottle can pick up other chemicals in your home, and that can leach into the water. For this reason, water companies typically put a two-year expiration date on their bottles.
The bottom line: If you buy this water, you have plenty of time to use it, but this may be the excuse you need to stay well hydrated! Ultimately, the best way to keep bottled water tasting fresh is to store it properly, and that’s in a cool place out of direct sunlight.
How does the water taste?
While reviews on Reddit regarding the taste are mixed, there are some pretty avid Kirkland Signature water fans out there. Some even say this stuff is part of the reason their Costco membership is worth it.
“Why is the Kirkland purified water so dang good?” asks one Redditor. “I swear (to me) no other water compares. Dasani puts salt in their water, so on the latter I’m guessing Kirkland puts a singular grain of sugar in theirs? The water is almost slightly more viscous? … This is the only water that truly quenches my thirst morning day night and middle of the night when I wake up to my throat feeling like the Sahara.”
On the other side of the coin, there are some folks who simply do not like the taste of the stuff. “I actually can’t stand it, it tastes chlorinated or something,” says another Redditor. “I usually just buy the cases of Crystal Geyser. It’s one of the few Kirkland brand products I just don’t like.”
But it seems as though there are more fans of Kirkland bottled water than not. One shopper thinks it tastes so good, he questions whether it contains sugar (it doesn’t). “I don’t think it’s sugar,” he says, “but just a delicious balance of minerals that make it so much better than any other bottled water.”
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Why trust us
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Sources:
- Niagara: “About Us”
- Niagara Water: “FAQ”
- Yahoo Finance: “The Major Brand Behind Costco’s Kirkland Signature Bottled Water”
- Reddit: “Kirkland purified water is so good”
- International Bottled Water Association: “Bottled Water Storage”
