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Canadians surprisingly unconcerned about water, survey says

Montreal – According to a survey by FluksAqua, a free water and wastewater utility forum, Canadians were surprisingly unconcerned when asked about water and how vital it is to their everyday lives.

With the hot summer months just around the corner, the lack of awareness about water and water utilities may come back to haunt Canadians, the forum said in a news release.                                         .

The survey suggests the following conclusions:

Canadians do not see value in water:

• An overwhelming 93.6 per cent of all respondents think that our tax dollars should be spent on necessities other than water.

• When preparing for a natural disaster, 37.7 per cent of Canadians would pick up food, communication, money, batteries or lighting sources over water.
  

• Only 15.7 per cent of Canadians believe Water and Wastewater operators are undervalued.

• A mere 5.6 per cent of Canadians believe water and wastewater operators are undervalued.
  

Canadians think water is doing well enough: While the majority of responses to the survey indicate a lack of concern for water, Canadians don’t see it as an undervalued industry. 84.3 per cent of respondents agreed that industries such as education (29.5 per cent) and public transit (16.1 per cent) are more undervalued than water and wastewater operation.

Canadians are most concerned with handsome homes: Respondents would rather scope out their new neighbours (19.1 per cent) or the finishes (17.6) in a new home than check the water/water pressure (5.6 per cent) in the potential home.

Canadians don’t covet careers in water: A very small 6.6 per cent of Canadians dreamt of being a water operator when they grew up in comparison to 20.4 per cent who wanted to be a teacher, 16.4 per cent astronaut, 16.4 per cent doctor and 12.6 per cent police officer.

“Most Canadians are accustomed to safe drinking water on demand so they tend to take clean water for granted and don’t always value the work water operators and water utilities do,” said Hubert Colas, President of FluksAcqua Americas. “Our hard working water utility workers build the foundation for our communities to operate – it is one of our most important industries.”