Americans Increasingly Concerned About What's In Their Drinking Water

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, September 11, 2015 – Bluewater, a global leader in delivering residential water purification technologies and related products, today said several new studies underline the need for consumers to assume greater individual responsibility for the quality and safety of their tap drinking water. 

"A new study by the U.S. Water Quality Association (WQA) published this week firmly underlines consumer anxiety about the quality of their tap drinking water and the health contaminants that may be found in it," said Mr. Wullt. He noted that the WQA study found that consumers are less confident than they were two years ago in the quality of the water in their homes; 56 percent of respondents – four percent more than in 2013 – described themselves as "concerned" or "very concerned" with it.

The WQA research also verified the impact government alerts have on consumer behaviors. Almost half of respondents (48 percent) reported to have purchased a water filtration device after receiving a "boil-water" or "unsafe water for use" alert. More than half of those surveyed (56-66 percent) expressed willingness to pay more for a home water treatment system that is able to remove biological waste, arsenic, lead, and other contaminants.

Mr. Wullt also referred to Bluewater's own survey earlier this year of more than 1,000 U.S. adults ages 18 to 70 about their general sentiments around drinking residential water and use of different residential water filtration and purification devices. The survey revealed that 55% of Americans are concerned about the quality of their tap water and that approximately one in six Americans avoid drinking water direct from their kitchen taps.

The studies about consumer anxiety regarding their tap drinking water are highly relevant today as millions of Americans are living in areas with aging municipal water delivery systems or are threatened by severe water shortages that are placing an extra burden on safe water supply. 

“Our tap water and health cannot be separated because many conditions such as heart disease and cancer have been linked to contaminants regularly found in tap water,” Mr. Wullt said. He added that consumers need to consider taking their health and wellness into their own hands "by installing water purification systems in their homes that remove contaminants such as lead, chemicals and germs from tap drinking water".

BACKGROUND

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has reported that only about one-third of the world’s potential fresh water can be used for human needs, due to ‘increased pollution from municipal and industrial waste and leeching of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture’.

At Bluewater, we believe clean drinking water is a basic human right. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and sold in China, the USA and across Europe, we strive to set the standard for residential water quality by innovating and manufacturing residential water purifiers such as the Bluewater Cleone, Spirit and Pro that improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world.