scholarly journals Reports of Water Quality Violations Induce Consumers to Buy Bottled Water

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Duus Pape ◽  
Misuk Seo
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Bottled Water ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Safe Drinking Water Act ◽  
Quality Reports

The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments required that water utilities send quality reports to customers. We test whether receiving such reports of health violations increases purchases of bottled water using newly released data and disaggregate changes in demand at the intensive and extensive margins. We find that a water-quality violation makes American households 25 percent more likely to purchase bottled water and, among purchasers, expenditures increase 4–7 percent, both larger responses than found in previous studies. Consumers spend approximately $300 million per year—about 4 percent of annual national spending on bottled water—to avoid health risks associated with violations.

Off-flavor as the consumer's measure of drinking water safety

1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Off Flavors ◽  
Health Related

If consumers detect an off-flavor in their drinking water, they are likely to believe that it probably is not safe. Water utilities will be defeating their best efforts to provide safe drinking water if they only meet health-related regulations and do not provide water that is free of off-flavor problems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current U.S. regulatory environment and discuss how these regulations can adversely impact the control of off-flavors in drinking water. Utilities should adopt a water quality goal that allows them to not only meet the minimums of the regulations, but also meet the customer's highest standards - water that is free of off-flavors.

Optimization of Energy and Water Quality Management Systems for Drinking Water Utilities

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Cherchi ◽  
Mohammad Badruzzaman ◽  
Joan Oppenheimer ◽  
Matthew Gordon ◽  
Simon Bunn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Water Quality Management ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Quality Management Systems

scholarly journals How Perceptions of Trust, Risk, Tap Water Quality, and Salience Characterize Drinking Water Choices

Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Madeline A. Grupper ◽  
Madeline E. Schreiber ◽  
Michael G. Sorice
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
The Public ◽  
Water Behavior

Provision of safe drinking water by water utilities is challenged by disturbances to water quality that have become increasingly frequent due to global changes and anthropogenic impacts. Many water utilities are turning to adaptable and flexible strategies to allow for resilient management of drinking water supplies. The success of resilience-based management depends on, and is enabled by, positive relationships with the public. To understand how relationships between managers and communities spill over to in-home drinking water behavior, we examined the role of trust, risk perceptions, salience of drinking water, and water quality evaluations in the choice of in-home drinking water sources for a population in Roanoke Virginia. Using survey data, our study characterized patterns of in-home drinking water behavior and explored related perceptions to determine if residents’ perceptions of their water and the municipal water utility could be intuited from this behavior. We characterized drinking water behavior using a hierarchical cluster analysis and highlighted the importance of studying a range of drinking water patterns. Through analyses of variance, we found that people who drink more tap water have higher trust in their water managers, evaluate water quality more favorably, have lower risk perceptions, and pay less attention to changes in their tap water. Utility managers may gauge information about aspects of their relationships with communities by examining drinking water behavior, which can be used to inform their future interactions with the public, with the goal of increasing resilience and adaptability to external water supply threats.

scholarly journals Drinking water quality in areas impacted by oil activities in Ecuador: Associated health risks and social perception of human exposure

2019 ◽  
Vol 690 ◽  
pp. 1203-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Maurice ◽  
Fausto López ◽  
Sylvia Becerra ◽  
Hala Jamhoury ◽  
Karyn Le Menach ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Social Perception ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Drinking Water Quality

A national approach to risk assessment for drinking water catchments in Australia

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Miller ◽  
B. Whitehill ◽  
D. Deere
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Supply System ◽  
Drinking Water Quality ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Water Quality Data

This paper comments on the strengths and weaknesses of different methodologies for risk assessment, appropriate for utilisation by Australian Water Utilities in risk assessment for drinking water source protection areas. It is intended that a suggested methodology be recommended as a national approach to catchment risk assessment. Catchment risk management is a process for setting priorities for protecting drinking water quality in source water areas. It is structured through a series of steps for identifying water quality hazards, assessing the threat posed, and prioritizing actions to address the threat. Water management organisations around Australia are at various stages of developing programs for catchment risk management. While much conceptual work has been done on the individual components of catchment risk management, work on these components has not previously been combined to form a management tool for source water protection. A key driver for this project has been the requirements of the National Health and Medical Research Council Framework for the Management of Drinking Water Quality (DWQMF) included in the draft 2002 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG). The Framework outlines a quality management system of steps for the Australian water industry to follow with checks and balances to ensure water quality is protected from catchment to tap. Key steps in the Framework that relate to this project are as follows: Element 2 Assessment of the Drinking Water Supply System• Water Supply System analysis• Review of Water Quality Data• Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Element 3 Preventive Measures for Drinking Water Quality Management• Preventive Measures and Multiple Barriers• Critical Control Points This paper provides an evaluation of the following risk assessment techniques: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP); World Health Organisation Water Safety Plans; Australian Standard AS 4360; and The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines – Drinking Water Quality Management Framework. These methods were selected for assessment in this report as they provided coverage of the different approaches being used across Australia by water utilities of varying: scale of water management organisation; types of water supply system management; and land use and activity-based risks in the catchment area of the source. Initially, different risk assessment methodologies were identified and reviewed. Then examples of applications of those methods were assessed, based on several key water utilities across Australia and overseas. Strengths and weaknesses of each approach were identified. In general there seems some general grouping of types of approaches into those that: cover the full catchment-to-tap drinking water system; cover just the catchment area of the source and do not recognise downstream barriers or processes; use water quality data or land use risks as a key driving component; and are based primarily on the hazard whilst others are based on a hazardous event. It is considered that an initial process of screening water quality data is very valuable in determining key water quality issues and guiding the risk assessment, and to the overall understanding of the catchment and water source area, allowing consistency with the intentions behind the ADWG DWQM Framework. As such, it is suggested that the recommended national risk assessment approach has two key introductory steps: initial screening of key issues via water quality data, and land use or activity scenario and event-based HACCP-style risk assessment. In addition, the importance of recognising the roles that uncertainty and bias plays in risk assessments was highlighted. As such it was deemed necessary to develop and integrate uncertainty guidelines for information used in the risk assessment process. A hybrid risk assessment methodology was developed, based on the HACCP approach, but with some key additions and modifications to make it applicable to varying catchment risks, water supply operation needs and environmental management processes.

Water Quality Violations and Avoidance Behavior: Evidence from Bottled Water Consumption

2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 448-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Graff Zivin ◽  
Matthew Neidell ◽  
Wolfram Schlenker
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Avoidance Behavior ◽  
Bottled Water ◽  
Poor Water Quality ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

We examine the impact of poor water quality on avoidance behavior by estimating the change in bottled water purchases in response to drinking water violations. Using data from a national grocery chain matched with water quality violations, we find an increase in bottled water sales of 22 percent from violations due to microorganisms and 17 percent from violations due to elements and chemicals. Back-of-the envelope calculations yield costs of avoidance behavior at roughly $60 million for all nationwide violations in 2005, which likely reflects a significant understatement of the total willingness to pay to eliminate violations.

Microbiological Water Methods: Quality Control Measures for Federal Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act Regulatory Compliance

2014 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 567-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patsy Root ◽  
Margo Hunt ◽  
Karla Fjeld ◽  
Laurie Kundrat
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Clean Water Act ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Safe Drinking Water Act ◽  
Specificity And Sensitivity ◽  
Microbiological Methods

Abstract Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) data are required in order to have confidence in the results from analytical tests and the equipment used to produce those results. Some AOAC water methods include specific QA/QC procedures, frequencies, and acceptance criteria, but these are considered to be the minimum controls needed to perform a microbiological method successfully. Some regulatory programs, such as those at Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 40, Part 136.7 for chemistry methods, require additional QA/QC measures beyond those listed in the method, which can also apply to microbiological methods. Essential QA/QC measures include sterility checks, reagent specificity and sensitivity checks, assessment of each analyst's capabilities, analysis of blind check samples, and evaluation of the presence of laboratory contamination and instrument calibration and checks. The details of these procedures, their performance frequency, and expected results are set out in this report as they apply to microbiological methods. The specific regulatory requirements of CFR Title 40 Part 136.7 for the Clean Water Act, the laboratory certification requirements of CFR Title 40 Part 141 for the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the International Organization for Standardization 17025 accreditation requirements under The NELAC Institute are also discussed.

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