Utilities Intelligence Report
August 2024
Amid a seemingly non-stop barrage of safety alerts and growing concerns about contamination and supply shortages, Americans are using more water than ever before.
The combined water and sewer bill for a typical household in the United States has increased 54.8% since 2012, even as utility customers have serious reservations about the quality of the very water they’re consuming. According to JD Power data, 41% of customers say they do not feel the water provided by their local utility is safe to drink.
That’s created quite a quandary for local water utilities, as they wrestle with providing uninterrupted, high-quality service, while figuring out a way to effectively tamp down fears about water safety. Some water utilities are doing a much better job than others when it comes to customer perceptions of water quality.
Methodology
Each year, JD Power gathers feedback from customers of water utilities in its U.S. Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study. The study measures satisfaction among residential customers from 92 water utilities that deliver water to populations of at least 400,000.
For this report, JD Power drilled into the data of the 2024 U.S. Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study to further examine consumer perceptions about the quality of their water. Customers were asked to rate the quality of water in terms of taste, color, odor, hardness, and other factors on a scale of 1-10. 1 being unacceptable, 5 being average and 10 being outstanding. States are then ranked based on the percentage of customers that respond positively about their water from best and worst. This year’s study is based on the responses of 32,833 residential water utility customers and was conducted from June 2023 through March 2024.
Tap, Please
After tallying the results, Washington State took home the top spot with 84.5% of customers giving their water positive marks. This comes amid recent news that the state will move to tougher federal limits on PFAS chemicals.
|
Washington |
84.5% |
|
Kansas |
81.4% |
|
Hawaii |
80.0% |
|
Kentucky |
79.3% |
|
Massachusetts |
79.3% |
|
New York |
78.7% |
|
Connecticut |
77.7% |
|
Georgia |
76.5% |
|
Louisiana |
76.5% |
|
Virginia |
75.1% |
Kansas ranked second (81.4%) followed by Hawaii (80.0%).
Sunbelt Struggles
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Arizona ranked lowest among the 50 states with a 62.6% favorability score. Arizona is joined by four other Sunbelt states—New Mexico, Alabama, Nevada and California—on the list of worst performers.
|
California |
69.8% |
|
Texas |
69.7% |
|
Wisconsin |
69.0% |
|
Maryland |
68.0% |
|
Nevada |
67.8% |
|
Indiana |
67.7% |
|
Oklahoma |
66.5% |
|
Alabama |
65.8% |
|
New Mexico |
65.2% |
|
Arizona |
62.6% |
Trickle Down Satisfaction
What once felt like an issue confined to one region of the country, water safety is now a nationwide issue. However, despite rising levels of concern, many customers say that their water districts are not doing an effective job getting ahead of the problem. In fact, just 2% of residential water utility customers nationwide say they recall receiving any proactive communication from their utility about PFAS contamination and steps they are taking to address the issue.
For customers to truly feel like their utility is a partner in their family’s health, utilities must find a way to not just provide cleaner drinking water, but to effectively communicate the strides they are taking to ensure the quality of that water. By doing so, water districts around the country will likely see an increase in customer satisfaction and confidence.
Find out More
This Utilities Intelligence Report was authored by Ramah Vaughn, director of utilities intelligence at JD Power. Please contact us at the numbers below to connect with Mr. Vaughn or to learn more about the underlying research.
Media Contacts
Brian Jaklitsch; East Coast; 631-584-2200; [email protected]
Geno Effler, JD Power; West Coast; 714-621-6224; [email protected]