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Bottled Or Tap? Choice Of Drinking Water In Philly May Surprise You

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new survey shows more than 40 percent of Philadelphians mostly drink bottled water at home instead of tap water.

The results surprised Nina Hoe at Penn's Fels Institute of Government, which surveyed Philadelphians on what kind of water they drink.

"The first thing that came out that we saw immediately was that 43 percent of Philadelphians were drinking bottled water primarily at home, which was pretty surprising," Hoe said. "That seemed much higher than a lot of us suspected."

And Hoe says nearly 60 percent of people who bought more bottled water were those who could least afford it.

"Generally, individual residents with lower levels of education, lower income residents, minorities, and females were more likely to be drinking bottled water at home than their counterparts," she said.

Hoe says while city water is safe, distrust of municipal water and the city soda tax may explain the results.

She says a working group is being formed to further examine Philadelphia's drinking water choices.

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