A survey for NEWS.com.au

about Water and Recycling

10 August 2006

Context and Methodology

• This survey is carried out for NEWS.com.au by CoreData.

• The survey is an online polling of 3835 respondents sourced from links to the NEWS.com.au web site.

• The survey was carried out during August 3 to 10, 2006.

• Respondents were primarily male (74.2%) and most live in the capital city of their state/territory (74.4%).

Summary/Key Points

• The majority of the respondents believe that Australia is currently facing a water crisis.

• More than half agreed that both the Federal and State governments are not doing enough to act upon this crisis. There is high support from the public should it plan to pursue water recycling.

• Most would like the government to use recycled water in toilets, industrial usage and watering parks and gardens.

• With regards to tap water, slightly more than half drink it and more often than not straight from the tap.

• They believe that tap water is safe, stable and cheap.

There is a water crisis – both State and Federal Governments are not doing enough.

• The majority of the respondents agreed that Australia is currently facing a water crisis (95.6%). There were no major differences between city, regional and rural area residents.

• Of those respondents who agreed, 77.1% either agreed or strongly agreed that the Federal Government is not doing enough, compared to the State Government which is slightly higher at 78.6%.

• This figure for the State Government is higher for older respondents, indicating that it affects the older generation more than the youth.

Do you agree that Australia is facing a water crisis?

  Percentage

Yes 95.6%

No 4.4%

Please rate your agreement with the following statements

 Agree' or

'strongly agree'

The Federal Government is not doing enough to act on the water crisis 77.1%

The State Government is not doing enough to act on the water crisis 78.6%

Water recycling is popular

• The top three choices for solutions to save water that the respondents approve of are reusing storm water, tank water and recycling water.

• Still, 81.7% have indicated that they would use recycled water and 70.8% of respondents were happy to see ‘recycled sewage’ used to supplement existing drinking water supplies.

• Even though water recycling is among the top three choices, 11.9% are unconvinced and would not use it even when it is purified to a satisfactory level.

• One respondent commented:

Which of the following solutions to save water do you approve of?

  Percentage

Reusing storm water 83.1%

Tank water 80.6%

Recycling water 80.4%

Grey water recycling 69.7%

Desalination 56.3%

Building more dams 41.9%

Other 5.7%

If it is purified to a satisfactory level, should Australia use recycled water?

  Percentage

Yes 81.7%

No 11.9%

Unsure 6.4%

“I will NEVER drink recycled water. Not because it is not cleaner, but the thought of it repulses me no matter what.”

Sentiments about the current water crisis

• Results are fairly similar with regards to price levels of water. 37.4% either disagree or strongly disagree that prices are too low while 32.6% agree or strongly agree.

• However, should there be a scarcity in water supply, more than half (59.9%) agreed or strongly agreed that they would accept some increase in the price of water to guarantee supply.

• For a significant price increase, only 11.1% agreed or strongly agreed to the proposal to avoid using recycled water.

Please rate your agreement with the following statements about water prices

 Agree' or

'strongly agree'

The price of water is too low 32.5%

I would accept some increase in the price of water if it means more certainty of supply 59.9%

I would accept significant increases in the price of water to avoid having to use recycled water in my home 11.1%

Tap Water -- to drink or not?

• Most of the respondents (74.6%) drink tap water all the time while only 3.3% never drink tap water at all.

• For those who drink tap water all the time or from time to time, most of them (71.1%) drink it straight from the tap. The younger generation (73.7%) would rather drink it straight to the tap compared to the older respondents (69.3%)

• Bottled water, on the other hand, is drunk by only 9.6% of respondents all the time (41.7% indicated ‘from time to time‘).

How often do you drink tap water?

  Percentage

Never 3.3%

Rarely 6.2%

From time to time 15.9%

All the time 74.6%

Do you filter the tap water in any way before drinking it?

  Percentage

Yes, I boil it 3.0%

Yes, I filter it 24.5%

I boil and filter it 1.4%

No, I just drink it straight from the tap 71.1%

How often do you drink bottled water?

  Percentage

Never 12.3%

Rarely 36.4%

From time to time 41.7%

All the time 9.6%

How do people describe tap water

• The top three words that people choose to describe tap water are safe (64.9%), stable (54.8%) and cheap (54.0%), which would lead us to believe that most people are satisfied with tap water.

• Only a handful responded that tap water is dirty (3.8%) and smells bad (5.8%).

• More people described tap water as having a good taste (31.7%) compared to having a bad taste (14.9%)

Choose the words that describe your thoughts on tap water

  Percentage

Safe 64.9%

Stable 54.8%

Cheap 54.0%

Tastes great 31.7%

Tastes bad 14.9%

Smells bad 5.8%

Dirty 3.8%

Water recycling – should we do it?

• The majority of the respondents (70.9%) agreed that Australia should recycle sewage for drinking water to supplement existing water supplies.

• More men (73.9%) compared to women (62.3%) agreed that Australia should recycle sewage for drinking water to supplement existing water supplies.

• Across Australia, Queensland garnered the highest percentage of respondents who support this issue (75.6%).

Should Australia recycle sewage for drinking water to supplement existing water supplies?

  Percentage

Yes 70.9%

No 19.2%

Unsure 9.9%

• Respondents mainly believe that Australia will eventually run out of usable water unless an alternative water management comes up (88.4%) and water levels in our dams are dwindling (80.6%)

• 79.9% would support water recycling because they believe that it is safe and clean.

• Respondents also showed concern for country/regional Australia.

Please tell us your reasons for supporting this.

  Percentage

Australia will eventually run out of usable water unless we come up with alternative water management systems 88.4%

Water levels in our dams are dwindling 80.6%

It is safe and clean 79.9%

Country/regional areas desperately need water in order to survive 72.4%

It doesn't rain nearly enough 64.6%

• For those who disagreed, the main reason for not wanting to support water recycling in Australia was because the believed it to be unsafe (53.2%), disgusting (51.7%) and unclean (38.5%).

• Only 12.1% were worried about setup costs.

Please tell us your reasons for not supporting this.

  Percentage

It is unsafe 53.2%

It is disgusting 51.7%

It is unclean 38.5%

I don't consider the water shortage to be a big enough problem for us to start using recycled water 36.3%

I know very little about the purification process so I can't support it 34.7%

It would cost too much to set it up 12.1%

People support action from the Government

• As Australia is currently experiencing a water crisis, 64.8% agreed that the government should just implement it rather than asking the public’s opinion.

Do you think that the government should just implement water recycling rather than asking for the opinion of the general public?

  Percentage

Yes 64.77%

No 28.71%

Not sure 6.44%

Water Recycling – who knows?

• Water recycling is not a new concept. However, 60.1% of the respondents know only a little about it.

• Water recycling is used in other countries and 90.8% are aware of it.

• Also, almost half of the respondents (46.2%) think that recycled water is cleaner than tap water.

How much do you know about the process of recycling water?

  Percentage

Nothing 13.3%

A little 60.1%

A lot 26.6%

Are you aware that they recycle water in other countries?

  Percentage

Yes, I am aware 90.8%

No, I didn't know that 9.2%

Do you think that purified recycled water is cleaner than tap water?

  Percentage

Yes, I think it is cleaner 46.21%

No, I don't think it is cleaner 20.39%

I'm not sure 33.32%

Where should recycled water be used?

• The top three choices for recycled water usage are for toilets (94.4%), watering plants and gardens (93.6%) and industrial usage (92.5%).

• The least popular where recycled water should be used is in drinking (63.4%).

• In addition, all the choices listed had at least 60% of respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing to it.

Please state your level of agreement with Australia’s use of recycled water for...

 Strongly agree

or Agree

Toilets 94.4%

Watering plants and gardens 93.7%

Industrial usage 92.6%

Car wash 90.7%

Washing pets 82.4%

Showers 75.3%

Swimming pools 74.4%

Drinking 63.4%

Main Themes

• Across Australia, the people are worried about the water crisis that the country is facing.

• The older generation are more worried about the water crisis compared to the younger generation.

• The majority still drinks tap water and believed that it is safe, stable and cheap.

• Water recycling is highly supported by the public. However, the majority only know a little about it.

• The respondents suggested that recycled water should be used in flushing toilets, watering parks and gardens and industries.

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