Polk County, Des Moines Water Works and University of Iowa launch outreach to address bottled-water reliance among immigrants and refugees

Jennifer Terry, a project presenter working with Polk County, introduced an outreach effort on immigrant and refugee tap-water use and described how a partnership with Des Moines Water Works and the University of Iowa traced targeted bottled-water marketing and information gaps among recently arrived households.

The partnership — funded initially by Des Moines Water Works research and later by Polk County — is developing a science-based outreach campaign called “Water for All” to give immigrant and refugee households accessible, multilingual information about local tap water and how it is treated.

Dr. Samantha Zolke, assistant professor in the University of Iowa School of Planning and Public Affairs, summarized summer interviews and focus groups with 22 people from six countries and four languages. “Of the 22 people we interviewed, 21 people primarily drank bottled water,” Zolke said, attributing purchases to beliefs that bottled water is cleaner and to visible labels and marketing that provide more perceived information than what newcomers see about tap water in the U.S. She said interviewees often linked aesthetics — taste, odor, appearance — to health concerns in the absence of clear, local information about treatment and source.

Melissa Walker, communications and outreach manager at Des Moines Water Works, described planned outreach steps. “Initially, we’re calling this campaign Water for All,” Walker said, and said the utility will produce culturally appropriate, translated materials and increase community events and tours to introduce how raw river water is treated into finished drinking water. Walker said the campaign will start with materials in Arabic, Dari, Swahili, Burmese, French and Spanish and include bilingual staff at community events, a one-day ambassador academy at Des Moines Water Works, and installation of a bottle-filling station and reusable bottles at Polk County’s Global Neighbors Welcome Center.

County staff told the board that Polk County previously approved a $150,000 budget for the project; about $40,000 has been spent on research so far. Jennifer Terry said a contract to hire a marketing firm that specializes in outreach to immigrant and refugee communities will be presented to the board for approval at an upcoming meeting. The remainder of the current budget would fund materials, the ambassador academy and the Global Neighbors kiosk if the board approves the next agreement.

Board members asked whether cancer or specific respiratory concerns had surfaced in interviews; Zolke said cancer was not specifically mentioned in the summer interviews but that broader health concerns, including kidneys, were raised. She recommended avoiding top-down messages and instead meeting communities where they are and addressing aesthetic and practical questions directly.

Partners present and named in the meeting included Des Moines Water Works leadership and Polk County Global Neighbors staff; presenters said they will continue partnering with local service providers and public-health actors to get information directly to case managers and community navigators.

The presenters emphasized the outreach is informational: it aims to give residents “reliable science-based information” so households can make their own choices about drinking water, and to reduce unnecessary household expense for families that already face constrained budgets.

The board did not take a final vote during the presentation; staff indicated the project is expected to continue through the end of the current budget year and that future county participation beyond the current appropriation would be up to the board.

Polk County supervisors thanked the presenters and indicated the administration will place the marketing-firm agreement on the next meeting agenda for board consideration.