title: Philadelphia obtains useful information from its customers about taste and odour quality.
abstract: Customers are sensitive to the flavour of water. Customers evaluate drinking water based on their expectations, on experiences with their usual drinking water and on experiences with alternative waters. The Philadelphia Water Department provides one example of success in developing a better understanding of customer perceptions and attitudes about tap water taste and odour. Philadelphia found that customers do communicate in ways that water utilities can understand. Water utilities can enhance that communication and collect useful data. In addition, water utilities can characterise their tap water flavour, track it for changes and correlate changes to customer complaints.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Laboratory Services, Philadelphia Water Department, 1500 E. Hunting Park Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124, USA. gary.burlingame@phila.gov
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Burlingame
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Mackey
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D010465:Perception; D015143:Philadelphia; D012903:Smell; D013649:Taste; D013652:Taste Threshold; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D018508:Water Purification; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water