Residents of the Baltimore metropolitan area like the taste of their drinking water, but most fear that the quality of that water is in jeopardy, according to a poll conducted for the Reservoir Watershed Protection Program.
Local residents had considerably more confidence in their drinking water than did Americans nationwide.
In the local survey, conducted in May and June and released last week, 79 percent of 861 residents who live in the watersheds of the area's three reservoirs -- Liberty, Prettyboy and Loch Raven, all operated by Baltimore -- rated their drinking water excellent to good.
The poll was taken for the Baltimore Metropolitan Council by the William Donald Schaefer Center for Public Policy at the University of Baltimore. Survey participants were almost equally divided between those who get their drinking water from private wells and those who receive public water.
The survey also found that 54 percent of respondents were moderately or very concerned about the possibility that their drinking water might be contaminated in the future.
And, despite attempts to educate residents about the effects of pollution on their drinking water, three of 10 of those surveyed said they didn't realize that runoff from their yards can pollute reservoirs and the Chesapeake Bay. Six of 10 said they didn't know the name of the stream nearest their home.
"The survey, I think, shows that we as a region are doing a pretty good job at protecting our water quality," said Jack H. Anderson, manager of the Reservoir Watershed Protection Program. "But it also indicates, by the concerns expressed by those who took part in the poll, that we can't let down our guard."
Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed said they never or seldom used areas around streams and lakes in their communities for hiking, fishing or other activities. People living on farms or in rural areas tended to have more knowledge of local streams and lakes than did those from more suburban areas.
"The result that surprised me the most was that most people don't know what watershed they live in or the name of their nearest stream," said Rebecca Pitt, Baltimore County project director of Maryland Save Our Streams.
Twenty-three percent said they believed the quality of area streams and lakes was poor or fair, compared with 39 percent in the national poll.
Mr. Anderson said survey results will be used when the Reservoir Watershed Protection Program and Save Our Streams hold spring workshops to improve public awareness of the reservoir watersheds.
"More people need to know that what they do to their yard or the activities around their home can affect the quality of drinking water, the nearby stream or, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay," he said.
The report data also will be used by school systems in Baltimore and Carroll counties to form middle and high school curricula geared toward awareness of water quality.
Donald. C. Outen, chief of the Water Quality Division for the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management, said he was pleased with the outcome of the poll.
"Beyond the useful information it provided, it also showed that in terms of lessening the impact of growth and pollution on the streams that fed the reservoirs, Baltimore County has done an excellent job," Mr. Outen said.
Ralph Cullison, chief of environmental services for Baltimore, declined to comment on the survey. He referred requests to the public information office of the Department of Public Works, which did not respond.