Emerging Contaminant Consumer Study

This independent study was performed by researchers from the University of Wisconsin system in June 2021, to gauge the American public’s knowledge of emerging contaminants in drinking water and their interest and willingness to pay for Point-of-Use (POU)/Point-of-Entry (POE) home water filtration devices. POU devices treat drinking water at the point of consumption (e.g., kitchen faucet) while POE devices are whole-house water treatment systems. The research objectives of this project are threefold: (1) To understand which emerging contaminants are known by consumer per geographic region and per demographic group in the United States. (2) To find whether consumers are aware about multiple POU and/or POE drinking water treatment products to reduce the concentration of emerging contaminants. (3) To understand through statistical analysis which type of communication process and messaging on the POU/POE products have significant influence on a consumer’s (or a household’s) choice of drinking water treatment systems. The significance of this project is the understanding of which emerging contaminants are known by consumer per geographic region and demographically in the United States. This project also assesses the level of consumer knowledge about multiple POU/POE product and through statistical analysis understand which messaging of a POU/POE product influences a consumer’s decisions to treat their water