It’s for stories like this one, that I read the Bad Science column in The Guardian. And what a charming bunch some of those Penta water people sound like. For those who are unaware, Penta water is an “ultra premium purified” water. Their site is full of scientific bollocks giving reasons why this water should be any better than any other bottled or tap water. (Long time readers may know that I find the water industry peculiarly interesting. Was it really just a year ago that Dasani was pulled?)
Anyway, as the various Guardian columns demonstrate, it’s all nonsense. Indeed their claims have also caught the ear of James Randi – famous for bashing pseudoscientific rubbish.
Well today the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) have weighed in :

The Authority took expert advice and understood that the scientific evidence submitted did not prove that Penta had health benefits over and above those of ordinary water or had been restructured to form stable smaller clusters. It also understood that hydrogen-bonds in ordinary water were a weak type of chemical bonding that allowed the formation and reformation of temporary clusters of water molecules in liquid phase water many times per second.

Continuing:

The Authority concluded that the information submitted was not sufficient to prove Penta water had health benefits over and above those of ordinary water or was structured differently from ordinary water. The Authority told the advertisers not to repeat claims that implied the product was chemically unique, had been restructured or molecularly redesigned, or hydrated cells and improved physical performance better than tap water.

For more on this check out here, and here.
Incidentally, it’s good to see that The Guardian’s Bad Science columns are ranked nearly as highly as Penta’s official website when you do a Google search.