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This is the fifth part of a series of eight articles by We are Water Evanston. This is a community-based participatory research project that explores our relationship with water and our concern for water. For more information about this series, click here.

Evanston is located on the shore of Lake Michigan, which is one of the most valuable freshwater resources in the world. Evanston has an award-winning water quality laboratory, and the city’s latest water quality reports show that our water meets state and national standards.

Despite this, a 2020 survey of 756 residents conducted by Evanston showed that one in five respondents was not sure about the quality of their tap water or thought bottled water was safer.

In the fifth article in the We Are Water series, we described the views of many Evanston people on drinking water and explained why their views are important. To this end, we will share the results of our large-scale survey and in-depth interviews with 75 residents of the city.

It’s worth noting that we learned that, on average, people of color in Evanston are four times more likely to trust tap water than the white residents we surveyed and interviewed. Many people say that their distrust of tap water stems from doubts about the government's commitment to protecting the people. Civic leader and Latino resident Rebeca Mendoza (Rebeca Mendoza) said: “In terms of protecting our water sources, for me, I always worry that they [Evanston] will betray us.” 

We also found that the status of house ownership affects the perception and use of tap water. Non-homeowners, including renters, people living with their families, and those without housing, are about twice as likely to think that Evanston’s tap water is not as safe as bottled water—a major trust difference. One possible explanation for this difference is that homeowners can have more control and access to information about water-related infrastructure.

Despite trust issues, 93% of survey respondents said they drink tap water. However, more than half of people reported filtering, boiling or allowing tap water to settle before drinking. Sometimes this is due to water quality issues. Others said that they are used to drinking "refrigerator water" or using filtered jugs, which shows that their preferences have little to do with trust in the water supply.

Although only 7% of respondents said they bought bottled water or five-gallon containers from a store, when we delved into the data, we found that average levels masked ethnic and socioeconomic differences. Only about 6% of white people drank store-bought water, but 20% of people of color drank it. In addition, people without housing are five times more likely to use bottled water than others in the survey, all of which indicate that trust in Evanston tap water is an urgent issue of fairness.

Those who filter tap water and those who buy water from stores often have the same reason for their behavior: people want to remove metals (such as lead) and chemicals (such as chlorine) from their water, and they also want to improve its taste. Another common reason for distrust of tap water is the general uncertainty about its quality. A civic leader explained, “I switched to bottled because I’m not sure.”

Lead pipes are one of the main sources of hesitation in Evanston's tap water. People described concerns about school lead pollution, the lead pipes connected to their homes, and the lack of regular and fair lead testing in the water, especially in the historic Black Fifth District.

To prevent contamination of lead pipes, the water treatment plant in Evanston adds mixed phosphates to the water. This is a chemical that policymakers excluded from Flint Michigan’s water treatment budget, which caused lead to seep into residents’ drinking water from pipes. Many Evanston residents either don't know about mixed phosphate, or think it is not an adequate protective agent, or even think it will reduce water quality.

A resident told us that they think store-bought water is safer because they said that it only contains "naturally occurring chemicals...no chlorine, fluoride, or substances that protect pipes", which shows that they don't believe in these chemicals. The water treatment plant is added to the tap water. A local business owner told us: "They have this anti-corrosion chemical, but in my opinion, the only ideal solution is to replace the lead pipe, which is obviously expensive. But I also think they are in... A little place." 

In fact, our research shows that although cities need to better communicate their handling, the only long-term solution to the problem of water mistrust is to replace all lead water pipes in the city.

In August, state legislation called the "Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act" was signed into law; it set the goal of completely replacing Evanston's lead service lines by 2061. But the bill allows a 10-year extension after this period, so maintaining public pressure to achieve this goal is still crucial.

The bill also requires "to develop a comprehensive low-income water assistance policy and plan", but it is not yet clear how this will be achieved in practice. The city of Evanston has developed a lead pipe replacement plan and arranged for cost sharing. However, it still brings financial burdens to the owners and sets up barriers for low-income homeowners and renters.

People who don’t trust Evanston’s water and choose to buy bottled water will eventually pay a high price for lack of confidence. On average, bottled water is about 2,000 times more expensive than tap water, and household filters increase the cost of replacing filters every few months. A resident said: "No one wants to spend money on water, right? No one should. This shouldn't be a budget expense."

Another interviewee talked about the financial barriers to obtaining reliable water. He explained: “This [tap water] has a chemical smell or a chemical aftertaste.... That was when I started trying to avoid it. But then I was burdened. Yes, like using my food stamp card to buy bottled water.” Another resident told us that “making [tap water] safer” is their top concern, because “this way I don’t have to continue buying bottled water. I I really like that."

In addition, increasing trust in tap water and therefore reducing the use of bottled water has important environmental impacts, such as reducing plastic pollution in waterways. Not only is this necessary to protect biodiversity, but the Evanston people we interviewed also told us that they care about ecologically conscious behavior. For some people, ethical concerns about the environment are enough to overcome hesitation about tap water. A resident who has some concerns about water quality said: “I don’t buy so much water. I don’t like it because it’s plastic. Sometimes I tell my children,'We must do something for the earth, we There is no need to spend this money or do many other things.'"

For others, environmental issues are not enough to turn to bottled water. A compelling example is an experienced environmental justice advocate we interviewed, who said: "I buy bottled water and I know it is very harmful to the environment. I do. I mean, I have watched movies. Or a documentary, where there are different parts of the world, there are plastic bottles all over. I get it. But I can’t afford to be sick. I have some potential health problems.” This sentiment has been repeated many times. Repeated interviews and survey responses show us that environmental issues will not motivate people to drink tap water without first establishing trust in urban tap water.

Many interviewees expressed hostility towards people who use bottled water. One resident said: “Bottled water? Yes. Yes, waste money and introduce all these plastics into the environment where it doesn’t need to exist.” Another interviewee said: “Our water is constantly tested to make sure it can be It’s safe to drink. It’s ridiculous to spend a lot of money on water and waste a lot of plastic." 

Rebeca Mendoza noticed that this condescending tone is often used to treat Latino residents. She said: "I think we need to do a better job in educating the [Latinx] community. Do it in a welcoming way, because sometimes I feel that our community is being devalued, which makes them feel that they are ignorant, or that ,'Oh, you don't recycle, or you know, you use plastic.'" 

Our research in Evanston shows that people’s behavior and preference for tap water and bottled water have complex reasons, ranging from trust to environmental issues to habits. Understanding these motivations is a key step in designing appropriate overall solutions to promote tap water consumption. Ensuring that everyone can use this life-sustaining public resource with peace of mind will bring us closer to fair Evanston.

In our next article, we will introduce the different sources of information that people rely on to understand the Evanston water problem, and then we will delve into the environmental impact of bottled water usage. 

We are Water Evanston is a collaboration between researchers from the Northwest Water Research Center and community water activists from the Watershed Collective (a subcommittee of Citizen Green Evanston). Following us on Instagram (@wearewaterevanston) and Twitter (@waterevanston) is Water Evanston. 

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