Confidence in Drinking Water Remains Strong

Abstract

In summer 2020, AWWA issued the results of its first survey of the public on perceptions of tap water, showing strong confidence in the safety, quality, and satisfaction of public drinking water. The survey also showed room for improvement—specifically, the need to build confidence with Black and Hispanic customers. To follow up, AWWA sponsored a survey in summer 2021, asking the same top-line questions while looking into other important topics. While results are still strong numbers for public opinion polling (Table 1), they are marginally lower (6%–8%) than in the 2020 survey. Perception of Safety % Satisfaction with Water % Perception of Quality % There is no way to be certain of the cause for this slight decrease, but it's undeniable that the COVID-19 pandemic has had massive impacts on every sector of the economy, which could have played a role. Still, the overall public's opinion of safety, quality, and satisfaction in tap water remains high. Also, the 2021 survey allows us to observe some new key findings. For example, we asked respondents whether they felt their water quality had improved or declined in the past five years, and considerably more (20%) said it had improved rather than declined (9%), with most (57%) saying it had stayed the same and the other 14% indicating they did not know or had no opinion. More than half (53%) of adults did not recall any recent communication (within the last year) from their water utility other than a bill. Those who did recall a recent communication within the past year had mostly positive perceptions about their water, including trust in their utility (5% more strongly agreed), perception of quality (11% higher), satisfaction with water (10% higher), and perception of safety (8% higher). Condo and apartment residents were considerably more likely to report no memory of a recent communication (14% higher) than those in single or multi-family homes. While it's hard to prove a direct relationship from this survey, clear and consistent communication with customers may be an essential opportunity to improve customers’ perceptions of their tap water. Another important topic in the survey involved affordability and willingness to pay. About 24% of respondents indicated they struggled to pay their water bills and 39% struggled to pay their utility bills, generally. We asked whether customers were willing to pay more for service improvements in their community, and about 58% reported they were either “very willing” or “somewhat willing” to pay more, with higher values for younger (ages 18–34, 68%) and Hispanic (65%) respondents. Of those willing to pay more, most (66%) were willing to pay somewhere between US$1 and $20 more per month. Second, we asked whether customers were willing to pay to help those who may not be able to afford their water bills. About half of surveyed individuals were asked whether they'd be willing to pay more and the other half whether they'd be willing to donate. Although the total support was similar, it was slightly higher for paying more (46%) compared with donating (43%). More than half of those who were willing (53%) indicated a willingness to pay of $1–$10 more per month. This represents a potential challenge for both ratepayer funded and voluntary contribution customer assistance programs, with less than half of the public expressing willingness to help fund them. When asked whether they supported federal assistance for water bills, the support was much higher at 71%, with especially high support from Black respondents (84%) and those living in urban areas (80%). This public polling information helps to frame conversations around perceptions of drinking water, and gives policy makers, utilities, and others useful data to advance conversations on these issues. I encourage readers to visit AWWA's Value of Water and Communications and Outreach pages to learn more. Adam T. Carpenter is the energy and environmental policy manager at the AWWA Government Affairs Office in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at acarpenter@awwa.org.