Bottle or tap? Toward an integrated approach to water type consumption.
Water Res
; 173: 115578, 2020 Apr 15.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32058152
While in many countries, people have access to cheap and safe potable tap water, the global consumption of bottled water is rising. Flanders, Belgium, where this study is located, has an exceptionally high consumption of bottled water per capita. However, in the interest of resource efficiency and global environmental challenges, the consumption of tap water is preferable. To our knowledge, an integrated analysis of the main reasons why people consume tap and bottled water is absent in Flanders, Belgium. Using Flemish survey data (N = 2309), we first compared tap and bottled water consumers through bivariate correlation analysis. Subsequently, path modelling techniques were used to further investigate these correlations. Our results show that bottled water consumption in Flanders is widespread despite environmental and financial considerations. For a large part, this is caused by negative perceptions about tap water. Many consumers consider it unhealthy, unsafe and prefer the taste of bottled water. Furthermore, we found that the broader social context often inhibits the consumption of tap water. On the one hand, improper infrastructures (e.g. lead piping) can limit access to potable tap water. On the other hand, social norms exist that promote bottled water. Lastly, results suggest that the consumption of bottled water is most common among men, older people and less educated groups. We conclude that future research and policy measures will benefit from an approach that integrates all behavioural aspects associated with water type consumption. This will enable both governments and tap water companies to devise more effective policies to manage and support tap water supply networks.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Agua Potable
/
Ingestión de Líquidos
Límite:
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Water Res
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido