A regionwide survey continues to help area water and wastewater utilities understand and respond to residents’ awareness about their water.
New to the Annual Drinking Water and Wastewater Survey this year were questions that gauged households’ need for and awareness of utility bill assistance due to financial hardships caused by COVID-19. Younger consumers in lower income brackets who rented their homes were more likely to report having a need for water bill financial assistance.
COG’s Community Engagement Campaign (CEC), a group of 16 water and wastewater utilities and jurisdictions who oversee the regionwide water communication, conducted the survey. Over the last year the group has collaborated on joint regional messaging campaigns via social media and radio urging residents in need to contact their water utility for assistance in settling their outstanding water bill. Options range from setting up flexible payment plans to help locating financial assistance.
As in past years, the survey provided the CEC with data that will help the group set priorities for how and what it communicates with consumers in the future. Reinforcing this mission is a survey finding that residents trust their utilities for information about their water.
Over half of all respondents (57 percent) reported that they drink tap water all the time, although the majority of survey respondents (68 percent) are still unsure about the source of their drinking water—the Potomac River.
Continued education and outreach will be needed to ensure residents’ help in protecting the water supply and infrastructure. For example, winter salts were perceived by respondents to be the least harmful type of stormwater runoff—while it actually can be very harmful to both human health and aquatic life in high levels in rivers and streams. And, flushable wipes were perceived by respondents as being very “safe to flush”—while they are common culprits of costly clogs and damage to wastewater infrastructure.
MORE: Drinking Water and Wastewater Survey Responses