Boil Water Advisories as Risk Communication: Consistency between CDC Guidelines and Local News Media Articles

Neutrality and impartiality in Midwestern U.S. newspapers: community-oriented newspaper journalists reporting of environmental water problems in agricultural and ranching states

BACKGROUND

U.S. journalists embedded in rural and agricultural communities could adversely affect the health of residents if they avoid alerting and engaging their readers - farmers, ranchers, and community members - on environmental and health issues. We expected reporters would maintain community status quo and inaction by framing local water pollution and quality issues neutrally deemphasizing threats and solutions to maintain their own credibility as unbiased informational sources.

METHOD

In a content analysis of local water quality newspaper articles from five farming and cattle ranching states in the west central U.S. Midwest, we employed seven variables to investigate whether journalists practiced neutral, detached forms of journalism (i.e. dissemination versus interpretative role enactment, government-frame) as well as whether they deemphasized water pollution as a concerning issue (i.e. problem, threat), water pollution solutions, and readers' efficaciousness.

RESULTS

The results showed these journalists relied heavily on government-driven narratives presenting water quality issues from an impartial, straight reporting lens in which they primarily followed the journalistic dissemination role enactment, while neglecting to provide readers with interpretative, threat, efficacy, or solution's information.

CONCLUSIONS

The study seeks to help communicators understand the information diet people living in this part of the country likely receive on environmental and health risks in the context of water pollution. Communicators seeking to reach and affect audiences in this region should understand local information practices to navigate how to craft culturally specific public health messages.

Boil water notices as health-risk communication: risk perceptions, efficacy, and compliance during winter storm Uri

Winter Storm Uri was a disaster that impacted much of the United States during February of 2021. During and after the storm, Texas and Oklahoma experienced massive power grid failures. This led to cascading impacts, including water system disruptions and many boil water notices (BWNs). The breakdown of some communication channels and the inability to enact protective actions due to power outages, as well as travel limitations on public roads, complicated the dissemination and implementation of notifications. This research examined individuals' perceptions of risk, water quality, and BWNs during Uri. Additionally, this study sought to understand if previous experience with a BWN influenced compliance during Uri and how perceived efficacy impacted these variables. Surveying 893 Texans and Oklahomans revealed that most Uri-affected respondents believed the risks associated with BWNs were severe. Income and race were two factors that influenced BWN compliance. Age, gender, and level of education did not influence compliance. Previous experience with BWNs did not increase risk perceptions. Higher levels of perceived efficacy correlated to higher levels of compliance, perceptions of risk, and water quality, much of which support propositions of the Extended Parallel Process Model. Results suggest that pre-disaster planning and communication are imperative to helping reduce risk(s) and enhancing efficacy during a disaster, especially for novel disasters that have cascading risks, like Winter Storm Uri.

Using advanced metering infrastructure data to evaluate consumer compliance with water advisories during a water service interruption

Water main breaks disrupt services provided by utilities and result in Water Service Interruptions (WSIs). Water utilities can manage WSIs through water advisories, which request that consumers limit their water use. The performance of water advisories depends on consumer compliance and decisions to conserve water. This research explores customer compliance with water advisories using water consumption data collected through Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). AMI provides high temporal and spatial resolution of water consumption data, which is analyzed to identify changes in water use behaviors. This research explores water use changes during a major water main break in Orange County, North Carolina, that caused a significant WSI, limiting water supply for more than 80,000 people. Customers were asked to reduce water use to essential purposes only and to boil water over the course of two days in November 2018. This research analyzes hourly consumption data to evaluate water consumption trends during the WSI and in response to water advisories. Statistical analysis is used to estimate the number of consumers who complied with utility notifications and to evaluate the volume of water saved. Regression analysis is applied to explore compliance across different user segments. Results provide insight about the level and variation of water conservation that can be expected during a WSI.