Bottled & Drinking Water
Fountain Use in NYC

New York City is the largest city world-wide that serves its residents natural, tasty water. Yet, ever more New Yorkers are buying bottled water; not the least because it is perceived as a healthy alternative to sodas. This is not only a waste of money but also a burden on the environment. We are investigating why New Yorkers are foregoing the alternative of readily available tap water and are trying to determine the factors that influence the choice of bottled water use vs drinking water fountain/tap water. In particular, we ask:

Does the type and the age of water fountain/tap influence drinking water choices?

What is the role of age, gender, ethnicity, or personal upbringing?

Where do New Yorkers get their information about water quality from?

Are there any significant differences between actual water quality conditions of bottled water vs drinking water fountains across NYC?

When and where do individual New Yorkers consume bottled water?

As social scientists, we don't assume that all New Yorkers are the same. We therefore ask what are the factors that drive drinking water choices across NYC? In particular, we research the structural and geographic components of Social Justice concerns by looking at:

What are the social justice issues in the water quality complaints and bottled water use in NYC neighborhoods?

How prevalent is water quality complaints by food desert and NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents?

Finally, we investigate the policy, program, and action responses to mitigating increasing bottled water use in the New York City metropolitan area.