The confusion here is a labelling one. Distilled water names a process: boiled to steam and condensed back. Drinking water on a bottle is a much looser term that usually means water treated to be safe and pleasant, often from a municipal supply, with minerals present or added back. Neither label tells you a great deal about quality on its own.
What each term on a bottle means
Distilled describes a specific process and reliably produces water very low in dissolved minerals. Purified means the water met a purity specification by some method, which could be distillation, deionization or reverse osmosis. Spring means it came from an underground source feeding a spring. Drinking water, or purified drinking water, is often municipal water that has been treated further. Only the first two say anything definite about mineral content.
Why the difference shows up in taste
Water labelled for drinking generally keeps or adds minerals precisely because that is what makes it taste like water. Distilled water has essentially none, and most people describe it as flat. That is the single most noticeable practical difference between the two on the shelf, and it is the reason distilled water is sold near the laundry and automotive aisles rather than as a beverage.
The tap is the honest comparison
Both of these come in a bottle, and the water already plumbed into your house is the alternative you are actually choosing against. Every community water system publishes an annual Consumer Confidence Report on what is in the supply, and the EPA maintains a finder for those reports. Read yours before committing to buying water: if there is nothing in it you object to, filtering at the tap is far cheaper than any bottle.
Choosing for a purpose, not by name
Use distilled water where scale matters: steam irons, humidifiers, CPAP machines, batteries and anything whose manual asks for it. Use a bottled drinking water when you want something palatable away from home. For everyday household drinking, treat your own tap: carbon for taste, reverse osmosis for a contaminant found on a test. Our best filter for drinking water guide sets out how those options compare.
Questions people ask about distilled water vs drinking water
Can you drink distilled water instead of bottled drinking water?
Yes, it is safe to drink. Most people find it flat because distillation removes the minerals that give water its taste.
Is purified water the same as distilled water?
Not necessarily. Purified describes meeting a purity specification by any method, including deionization or reverse osmosis, not only distillation.
Which is better value for a household?
Treating your own tap water is far cheaper than either. Bottled water makes sense for portability, and distilled water for appliances that scale.