Influence of Taste and Odor on Consumer Perception of Tap Water Quality and Safety
Content Table
- Influence of Taste and Odor on Consumer Perception of Tap Water Quality and Safety
- Growing Consumption of Tap Water Alternatives Suggests Increasing Dissatisfaction with Drinking Water Quality
- Consumers Are Generally Satisfied with Their Tap Water Quality, but Perception of T&Os Can Negatively Impact People’s Opinions
- These Data Suggest Consumer Water Consumption Choices Are Complex
- Resources
- References
- Related Articles
Growing Consumption of Tap Water Alternatives Suggests Increasing Dissatisfaction with Drinking Water Quality
The consumption of bottled water has grown almost exponentially in the past ten years, fueled, in part, by growing consumer dissatisfaction with water quality. While negative media attention often creates the perception that the public is very skeptical about their drinking water safety, historical data suggests that the leading cause of consumer dissatisfaction with tap water quality involves perception of chlorinous taste and odor (Suffet et al. 1995).
An investigation into the influence of taste and odor (T&O), particularly chlorine, on consumer satisfaction funded by AwwaRF (now the Water Research Foundation) sought to help utilities better understand the influence of chlorinous flavors on consumer purchasing choices (Mackey et al. 2003). This work focused on investigating the factors that influence consumer purchasing of bottled water and home filtration devices (HFDs) over tap water in a range of water markets across the United States and investigating whether these factors are real or falsely perceived through consumer testing.
Consumers Are Generally Satisfied with Their Tap Water Quality, but Perception of T&Os Can Negatively Impact People’s Opinions
A survey of seven target markets across the U.S. and a national survey (400 individuals per market, 200 bottled water/HFD consumers at home and 200 tap water consumers at home per sample) indicated that consumer perception of undesirable T&Os in their tap water (“chlorinous,” “musty/earthy,” “medicinal,” etc.) did not necessarily result in distrust of tap water quality. Indeed, most respondents reported that they felt their tap water was “safe” (80 - 87% across the eight populations surveyed) and “healthy” (63-79%) and were satisfied with its overall quality (66 - 84%), although taste was cited most frequently as the primary source of discontent when consumers reported dissatisfaction with their tap water quality and was the number one reason cited for switching from tap water to using bottled water/HFDs instead. Consumers who perceived off flavors in the water were more likely to report being dissatisfied with their tap water safety and healthiness.
Consumer’s who perceived chlorinous T&O in their water in all but two markets (one in the Midwestern U.S. and one in the Southeastern U.S.) were significantly more satisfied with their tap water quality than those who reported perceiving other “off” flavors (e.g., “medicinal,” “musty/earthy,” “metallic”). However, across all the samples (market and national), individuals who reported “no taste” or “fresh” taste reported a much more positive perception of water “safety,” “healthiness,” and “overall quality” than those who perceived off flavors. As expected, a small but significant minority of consumers were dissatisfied with their tap water taste (16 – 33%) and safety (8 – 16%).
While consumers reported being confidence overall in their tap water’s safety, when asked about “chlorinous water” the response changed. Consumers were asked whether or not they agreed with the following statements: “In general, I believe it is safe to drink tap water;” and “I believe it is safe to drink water that has a chlorinous taste and odor.” About three quarters (68 - 83%) of respondents agreed that it is safe to drink tap water, but only about one-third to one-half (30 – 53%) of respondents, depending upon the market, agreed that it is safe to drink water that has a chlorinous taste or odor.
Humans are, on average, much less sensitive to monochloramine than to free chlorine. Based on this and the data presented above, one would expect a much smaller fraction of the population would report chlorinous flavors in, or dissatisfaction with, their tap water. In fact, consumers in the four free chlorine markets surveyed were more likely to identify chlorinous flavor (taste, odor, or both) in their tap water than respondents in the three monochloramine markets. However, there was no significant difference in satisfaction with tap water safety or in use of bottled water or HFDs at home. This data indicated that while consumers will notice free chlorine more readily, the perception of a chlorinous taste or odor alone cannot account for consumers’ decisions to switch from drinking tap water to using bottled water or HFDs instead.
A small subset of the surveyed consumers were also assessed for sensitivity to chlorinous flavors in their local tap water matrix. There was no significant difference in tap water perception of aesthetics or safety/heath between those consumers with a chlorinous flavor threshold sensitivity above or below the maximum chlorine residual. This was true for both monochloramine in the combined chlorine-using markets and free chlorine in the hypochlorite-using markets. In other words, there was no correlation between reported perceptions of chlorinous flavor and a person’s ability to detect it at the highest level they would encounter in their local tap water. This is in line with other investigations in this work that found that people were generally not very reliable at accurately describing chlorinous or other flavors in water.
These Data Suggest Consumer Water Consumption Choices Are Complex
These data suggest that off flavors negatively impact consumer perceptions of drinking water safety and healthfulness, but there is no clear relationship between such perceptions and water consumption practices (i.e., whether or not a consumer chooses tap water alternatives). Even though consumers may report criticisms of their tap water in terms or aesthetics or safety, this often does not translate into a shift to using tap water alternatives. This would suggest that even consumers who perceive off flavors in their water are willing to tolerate the perceived risk associated with consuming it.
Other factors, like marketing, economics, and social customs are needed to better understand the drivers for consumer purchasing decisions. However, in general perception of good tap water aesthetics is associated with positive consumer perceptions of a drinking water’s safety and healthfulness.
Resources
This article was authored by:
Erin Mackey, Ph.D., P.E.
Carollo Engineers, Inc., 12592 W Explorer Drive, Suite 200, Boise, Idaho 83713, emackey@carollo.com.
References
Mackey, E.D., Baribeau, H., Fonseca, A.C., Davis, J., Brown, J., Boulos, L., Crozes, G. 2004. Public Perception of Tap Water Chlorinous Flavor. Denver, Col.: AwwaRF.
Suffet, I.H., Mallevialle, J., Kawczynski, E. 1995. Advances in Taste-and-odor Treatment and Control. Denver, Col.:AwwaRF/Lyonnaise des Eaux
