Table 1. Prevalence of tap water and bottled water safety perceptions according to survey respondent characteristics.
| Local tap water perceptions “My local tap water is safe to drink” | Bottled water perceptions “Bottled water is safer than tap water” | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disagree | Neutral | Agree | p-value | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | p-value | |
| n (weighted %a) | 456 (13.0) | 679 (19.2) | 2,652 (67.9) | - | 960 (26.4) | 1,365 (37.4) | 1,462 (36.2) | - |
| Age | ||||||||
| 18–34 y | 14.9 | 23.5 | 61.6 | <0.0001 | 29.6 | 40.5 | 29.9 | <0.0001 |
| 35–54 y | 15.1 | 19.0 | 65.9 | 26.9 | 36.5 | 36.6 | ||
| 55+ y | 8.3 | 15.1 | 76.6 | 22.6 | 35.5 | 41.9 | ||
| Sex | ||||||||
| Male | 12.3 | 19.9 | 67.1 | 0.5 | 27.0 | 37.3 | 35.8 | 0.8 |
| Female | 13.5 | 19.4 | 67.1 | 26.0 | 37.6 | 36.5 | ||
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 10.8 | 16.9 | 72.4 | <0.0001 | 21.8 | 38.0 | 40.2 | <0.0001 |
| Non-Hispanic black | 19.9 | 24.5 | 55.6 | 40.0 | 34.6 | 25.4 | ||
| Hispanic | 16.0 | 24.9 | 59.2 | 34.1 | 38.0 | 28.0 | ||
| Non-Hispanic other | 18.0 | 22.4 | 59.6 | 36.6 | 34.6 | 28.8 | ||
| Income | ||||||||
| <$25,000 | 15.3 | 25.4 | 59.4 | <0.0001 | 34.3 | 38.6 | 27.1 | <0.0001 |
| $25,000–$59,999 | 14.1 | 17.1 | 68.8 | 22.9 | 41.3 | 35.9 | ||
| ≥$60,000 | 10.8 | 17.4 | 71.8 | 24.8 | 33.9 | 41.3 | ||
| Education | ||||||||
| <High school | 17.0 | 19.7 | 63.3 | <0.0001 | 40.0 | 28.6 | 31.4 | <0.0001 |
| High school | 15.1 | 19.4 | 65.5 | 27.5 | 41.7 | 30.8 | ||
| Some college | 16.1 | 21.9 | 62.1 | 29.5 | 39.4 | 31.1 | ||
| College graduate | 7.1 | 15.4 | 77.5 | 19.9 | 33.4 | 46.7 | ||
| Self-reported diabetes | ||||||||
| Diabetes | 11.2 | 20.0 | 66.8 | 0.5 | 33.3 | 37.9 | 28.8 | 0.0001 |
| No diabetes | 13.2 | 19.1 | 67.8 | 25.4 | 37.4 | 37.2 | ||
| Physical activity level | ||||||||
| Inactive | 16.5 | 21.1 | 62.5 | 0.004 | 28.2 | 36.6 | 35.2 | 0.3 |
| Insufficiently active | 13.3 | 18.3 | 68.4 | 28.2 | 35.7 | 36.1 | ||
| Active | 11.6 | 18.9 | 69.5 | 25.1 | 38.4 | 36.5 | ||
| Region | ||||||||
| New England | 4.2 | 18.5 | 77.4 | <0.0001 | 35.1 | 31.5 | 33.4 | <0.0001 |
| Middle Atlantic | 15.5 | 20.3 | 64.2 | 22.9 | 40.6 | 36.5 | ||
| South Atlantic | 11.6 | 21.6 | 66.8 | 27.1 | 35.6 | 37.4 | ||
| East North Central | 14.6 | 14.5 | 70.9 | 27.2 | 38.5 | 34.2 | ||
| East South Central | 8.1 | 23.2 | 68.7 | 25.0 | 32.6 | 42.3 | ||
| West North Central | 5.6 | 17.1 | 77.3 | 13.4 | 48.7 | 37.9 | ||
| West South Central | 20.1 | 20.9 | 59.0 | 34.6 | 33.0 | 32.4 | ||
| Mountain | 13.7 | 15.3 | 71.0 | 24.1 | 36.6 | 39.2 | ||
| Pacific | 14.3 | 20.2 | 65.6 | 30.5 | 35.1 | 34.4 | ||
| Agree bottled water is safer than tap | 21.5 | 31.2 | 47.4 | <0.0001 | - | - | - | - |
| Neutral bottled water is safer than tap | 12.9 | 20.8 | 66.3 | - | - | - | - | |
| Disagree bottled water is safer than tap | 6.8 | 8.7 | 84.5 | - | - | - | - | |
| Disagree home tap water is safe | - | - | - | 43.8 | 37.2 | 19.0 | <0.0001 | |
| Neutral home tap water is safe | 42.9 | 40.6 | 16.5 | |||||
| Agree home tap water is safe | - | - | - | 18.5 | 36.6 | 45.0 | ||
a
All percentages weighted based upon sex, age, income, race, and household size; because of rounding, weighted percentages may not add up to 100%.