U.S. Households' Perception of Drinking Water as Unsafe and its Consequences: Examining Alternative Choices to the Tap

Using 2015 American Housing Survey data, this study generates the first national estimates of the use of drinking water alternatives among households who perceive their tap water to be unsafe. Multivariate regression models examine factors influencing both perception of tap water and the choice of tap alternatives. We find that minority households more commonly perceive their tap water to be unsafe and choose bottled water when they perceive the...