Socioeconomic and attitudinal predictors of bottled water use among lower-income households in Southwest Virginia.

Bottled water consumption is rising, influenced by perceptions of taste, convenience, safety, and concerns about other drinking water sources. However, bottled water use raises quality, environmental, and economic concerns. Despite poorer economic and health outcomes in Central Appalachia, there is a severe lack of research about drinking water in the region. This small-scale study explored predictors of bottled water usage among 27 households with utility-supplied water in Virginia. Logistic regression analyses considered the following as potential predictors of bottled water use: income, level of education, marital status, and tap water quality perceptions. About 78% of households reported using bottled water as a primary or secondary source, for reasons including perceptions of taste (43%), convenience (29%), safety (15%), and other reasons (13%). In this study, socioeconomic indicators were not significantly associated with bottled water use, but the perceived quality of households' tap water was a significant predictor of primary bottled water use. This study contributes to our understanding drivers of bottled water use with a focus on the under-studied region of central Appalachia.