Global Survey Reveals Brits Are Eco-Conscious but Lack Understanding of Water Quality

The British are world leaders in recycling with 81% of people recycling when they can. The results are from a ground-breaking global survey on behalf of ZeroWater, a market leader in water filtration. Britain pipped Canada 78%, Italy 77%, and Spain 76% to the accolade.

The survey was conducted to discover people’s attitudes and perspectives on water, health, and environmental impacts. The study explored how people understand water quality and embraced sustainability. The survey undoubtedly shows that British consumers care about recycling but lacked awareness on how to improve their water quality with 70% of Brits drinking unfiltered water. Furthermore, it found that just 35% of people knew that tap water could contain pesticides, whilst just 43% knew soft water was potentially dangerous to the human body.

The most important “fake news” about water in the UK is that “Bottled water is safer than tap water”: 37% of British consumers believe this, showing the need to further educate the market on how harmful plastic bottles are to the environment and how they achieve high-quality drinking water at home through filtration.

The study found that 61% of people in the UK use refillable water bottles, the best in Europe, but behind Canada globally 64%. Additionally, 61% of Brits confirmed they use tap water to avoid plastic bottles with the intention to improve their carbon footprint. Despite their best intentions, 35.8 million plastic bottles are used every day in the UK and only 19.8 million of those are recycled. 56% of people thought that plastic water bottles were not bad for the environment as they can be recycled.

Due to Covid, in the UK 39% of people are more concerned than before about contamination levels of drinking water at home, 21% of consumers are significantly more concerned. As a result, 17% of British people have explored getting invested in filtered drinking water. Whilst tap water is undoubtedly better for the environment than bottled water, tap water contains chlorine, metals, calcium, numerous solids.

Other key global findings from the global survey showed of variety habits and perceptions related to water:

19% of the population drinks less than the ideal daily quantity of water.

In Australia (44%) and UK (40%), people drink mainly when feeling thirsty. It’s too late: when people feel thirsty, they are already dehydrated by 1-2% with a negative impact on physical and mental performance, Source: British Journal of Nutrition (2011).

1 in 4 of the respondents do not know that drinking water improved immunity.

Covid 19 encouraged 1 person out of 4 in North America to get filtered drinking water tap or dispensing units. This penetration is a bit lower in Australia and EMEA, where is 1 out of 5.

ZeroWater is committed to driving a better understanding of the key role water plays in our lives and ensure access to clean, safe water for all. ZeroWater’s unparalleled water filters remove 99.6% of all dissolved solids from water and offer a cost-effective solution to improve tap water at home and on the go. ZeroWater’s premium technology reduces the demand for unsustainable single-use plastic bottles and encourages high-quality water consumption.