Consumer Confidence Reports" on Drinking Water Quality: Surveys of Utility Customer Reactions. B. B. Johnson, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, NJ
As of 1999 all U.S. drinking water utilities must report annually to their customers about water quality, under the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996. Although earlier research suggested that American consumers would welcome such information, it was less clear whether they would have positive reactions to particular topics, formats, and language as required by the law or its implementing regulations. This paper reports on random surveys of various utilities’ customers to determine in experiments how (1) different formats of full-scale reports are received and (2) alternate phrasing of required language (e.g., definitions, explanations of contamination potential and health effects, reporting of water monitoring results) affects beliefs and attitudes. Implications of these findings for consumer reaction to actual utility reports will be discussed.
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