Understanding bottled water consumption: a survey on public perception of drinking water

Abstract

Despite strict regulations on the quality of drinking water in many countries, the public is increasingly concerned about the safety of municipal utility water. For this reason, acquiring a better understanding of consumer perception of utility water is an important issue for water authorities and utility managers. In this study, the public perception of utility water and factors influencing public’s choice in drinking water source was investigated. A qualitative survey was carried out for 384 residents in Male’ and results showed that 29.5% of respondents had trust in utility water as a source of potable water. The extent of the prevalence of bottled water was also an important finding, while societal distrust fueled by hearsay was identified as the main reason for public’s distrust in utility water. Furthermore, unfavourable taste was identified as an important issue of utility water, alongside distrust in hygiene levels. It was also found that while a majority of respondents were aware about water standards, their perception on the utility water remained largely uninfluenced by the standards. Areas in which the public utility company could improve on to increase public trust and the means through which the company could effectively reach out to the public were identified through the survey as well.