Social Preferences, Awareness and Ecological Consciousness of Sustainable Drinking Water Options

This innovative study focuses on identifying the primary trends in citizens’ decision-making regarding sustainable and healthy water use and the promotion of tap water options. The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether there was a connection between citizen-consumer choices of tap water versus bottled water and their socio-demographic attributes or environmental awareness and consciousness, which both influence the access to and quality of drinking water. The availability, safety and quality of drinking water is a basic human right and an important public health issue. Water plays a crucial role in terms of increasing geo-political and socio-economic importance. Several researchers have examined the multiple elements influencing customers’ opinions about the quality of water and services, finding that a variety of internal and external factors play a role. To accomplish the study goals, a variety of research methodologies were applied to the use case of Kilkis city, Region of Central Macedonia, Greece. Gaining insight was first facilitated via communication with a focus group of local professionals and policy-makers. Then, a social survey of 407 randomly chosen citizens was conducted to collect the data. The key determinants influencing citizens’ drinking water choices were investigated using multivariate data analysis. Specifically, cluster analysis was employed to group customers exhibiting similar water usage patterns, resulting in the identification of two groups: (a) individuals who favored bottled water and (b) individuals who favored tap water with no filtration. The comparison of the distribution of water consumers between these two clusters, via a Chi-Square test with cross tabulation analysis, showed that customers’ drinking water buying habits were not influenced by their socio-demographic traits. On the other hand, the choice of tap water was found to be positively connected to citizens’ increased level of environmental consciousness. The outcomes of this study can help the stakeholders involved to assist in making improvements to customer service programs for encouraging tap water use, as a more sustainable and healthy water option. Moreover, the population could potentially be motivated to adopt updated technologies for recycling water down the line, moving towards sustainable water resource management.