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NRWA - National Rural Water Association
08/26/2024 | News release | Archived content
Study Finds Public Trust in Drinking Water Safety Is Low Globally
EVANSTON, Ill. --- A new study finds more than half of adults surveyed worldwide expect to be seriously harmed by their water within the next two years. Led by global health experts at Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the study sought to understand public perceptions of drinking water safety.
Because perceptions shape attitudes and behaviors, distrust in water quality has a negative impact on people's health, nutrition, psychological and economic well-being - even when the water meets safety standards.
"If we think our water is unsafe, we will avoid using it," said Sera Young, professor of anthropology and global health at Northwestern and senior author of the new study.
"When we mistrust our tap water, we buy packaged water, which is wildly expensive and hard on the environment; drink soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages, which is hard on the teeth and the waistline; and consume highly processed prepared foods or go to restaurants to avoid cooking at home, which is less healthy and more expensive," Young said. "Individuals exposed to unsafe water also experience greater psychological stress and are at greater risk of depression."
Young is a Morton O. Schapiro Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research, a faculty fellow at the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy, and co-lead of the Making Water Insecurity Visible Working Group at the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.
Using nationally representative data from 148,585 adults in 141 countries from the 2019 Lloyd's Register Foundation World Risk Poll, the authors found a high prevalence of anticipated harm from water supply, with the highest in Zambia, the lowest in Singapore and an overall mean of 52.3%.
They also identified key characteristics of those who thought they would be harmed by their drinking water. Women, city dwellers, individuals with more education, and those struggling on their current income were more likely to anticipate being harmed by their drinking water.