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.
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?
•
Water recycling is used in other
countries and 90.8% are aware
of it.
Percentage
Yes, I am aware
No, I didn't know that
90.8%
9.2%
Do you think that purified recycled water is cleaner than tap
water?
•
Also, almost half of the
respondents (46.2%) think that
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.
Market Research
Stakeholder Consultation
Opinion Polling
Indices
Market Research
Stakeholder Consultation
Opinion Polling
Indices