Water Supply Vol 5 No 2 pp 17–22 © IWA Publishing 2005
Evaluating citizens concern about the quality of their drinking water
A. Contu*, M. Carlini**, A. Maccioni***, P. Meloni**** and M. Schintu*****
*Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università di Cagliari (Italy) Via GT Porcell 4, 09100 Cagliari, (Italy, )
**Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università di Cagliari (Italy) Via GT Porcell 4, 09100 Cagliari, (Italy, )
***Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università di Cagliari (Italy) Via GT Porcell 4, 09100 Cagliari, (Italy, )
****Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università di Cagliari (Italy) Via GT Porcell 4, 09100 Cagliari, (Italy, )
*****Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università di Cagliari (Italy) Via GT Porcell 4, 09100 Cagliari, (Italy, )
ABSTRACT
Citizens' concern about the quality of their drinking water stems especially from poor or wrong information. A tool allowing consumers to consult the Internet for the “label characteristics” of the tap water they are drinking, and to look for general information on water for human consumption has been developed. The tool allows to carry out online queries contributing to optimising management and using the water resource. Thanks to the implementation of an experimental protocol in secondary schools in Sardinia (Italy), it has been possible to test the efficacy of the tool by adapting its content to a large scale of users and to carry out a didactic-educational drill on the theme of water resources. To assess the weight of the aesthetics (taste, colour, and odour) in determining the degree of acceptability of the water, two tests were carried on both resident and non-resident assessors. This study allowed to survey the perception of the general public and the concerns arising from them. Keywords Drinking water; water management; risk perception; aesthetics
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