Drink tap water or not?

Abstract

As of 2013, the average direct drinking rate of tap water in Korea is 5.4%, and the direct and indirect drinking rate is 55.2%. This is lower than the OECD countries such as the US and Japan, which have a direct drinking rate of 55.2% and direct and indirect drinking rates of 70 ~ 80%. In spite of efforts to replace old water pipes with new ones and introduce high-level water treatment, ‘unprovoked distrust’ has been a major reason of not drinking tab water. This indirectly shows the low trust in the policies implemented by governments and public organizations to improve tap water quality. In order to substantially increase the tap water drinking rate, it is necessary to increase a number of the SWC project that consumers can experience directly in the target area. The SWC project increased the trust in water policy, and its trust led to changes in people’s behavior toward drinking tab water. And also applying ‘nudge’ to people who are satisfied or at least dissatisfied with tap water can be effective in increasing tap water drinking.