Most Canberra households want to monitor their water use in real time and are more willing than other Australians to spend a bit extra to make their homes more efficient.
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ACT residents are also less concerned about water shortages and more supportive of the work of authorities to ensure water supplies into the future.
More than half of the ACT respondents to a survey believe water pricing is about right and 57 per cent think the price of water makes them think carefully about how much they use.
Compared to national averages, people in Canberra were more concerned about climate change and natural disasters, and not as worried about intensive agriculture and mining.
These findings from an online survey of 3300 respondents will be released on Wednesday at the national water policy summit run by the Australian Water Association.
Chief executive Jonathan McKeown said the 2015 Water Consumer Outlook, a survey of urban and rural consumers, revealed concern across the nation about water shortages.
"The majority of those in the ACT were more supportive of the work of authorities, with far more believing they are taking firm action to make sure we have enough water in the future," he said.
"This belief in the authorities may be the reason that a higher majority of Canberrans are confident there will be enough water in the future, although this is still only 39 per cent.
"Canberrans are also playing their part in conserving water, with three quarters willing to spend money to make their homes more water efficient, and 70 per cent wanting to monitor water consumption in real time.
"The survey gave us the opportunity to hear what Australians understand about our water security and supply, so as an industry we can better engage with consumers so that their priorities and views are heard.
"People right across Australia are concerned about water shortages, but concern was higher in rural and regional areas.
"That is reinforced by a finding that rural and regional survey respondents were more strongly in favour of building more dams in the north and south of Australia.
"While there was some concern about the approach being taken to ensure our ongoing water security, an extremely positive finding is strong support for alternative water sources, with 90 per cent agreeing that water recycling was a sustainable non-drinking source."
A greater proportion of ACT residents were unsure about the scope for more dams in northern Australia than other respondents.
Canberra is the nation's biggest inland city, making it the largest urban centre within the Murray-Darling Basin.
The national capital is much better prepared to face the next drought than it was in 2007, with more storage available in the dams, as well as pumps and pipes at the Murrumbidgee as emergency back-up.
