Water conservation quantities vs customer opinion and satisfaction with water efficient appliances in Miami, Florida

A study on urban household water consumption behavior under drought conditions

The increasing frequency of drought events has intensified the risk of water scarcity, posing significant challenges for urban domestic water supply. Reducing urban household water consumption is an important way to alleviate water stress during drought periods. However, due to various factors, it is difficult to determine a water-saving target that is within the residents' capacity. Here, taking Beijing, China as an example, we explored the socio-psychological factors behind urban household water use behaviors under drought conditions, and further quantified the compressible ratio of water quotas for flexible water use behaviors. Therefore, the present study was based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and extended TPB (ETPB) by adding drought risk perception as a variable to the theoretical framework. With the help of questionnaire method and structural equation modeling (SEM), the explanatory power of TPB and ETPB in predicting people's water saving intention and behavior was compared. Meanwhile, mathematical statistical analysis methods were employed to calculate the water quota for elastic water consumption behavior and the compressible proportion of urban residents' elastic water consumption under drought conditions. The results showed that drought risk perception has a significant positive correlation with subject norms and water reduction behavior under drought conditions. Furthermore, ETPB was more effective in analyzing water use intentions and behaviors. The predictive explanatory power of SEM for reducing water use increased from 44% to 50% after adding drought risk perception variable. In terms of quantification of elastic water use behavior, the average total water consumption in summer and winter were 71.3L/(p.d) and 52.9L/(p.d) under drought conditions, while it were 124.3 L/(p.d) and 108.9 L/(p.d) under normal conditions. And the compressible proportions of the total water quota for summer and winter elastic water use were 46.7% and 56.8%, respectively. The calculation results can provide a reference for the government to make emergency water supply decisions against drought.

Socio-cognitive analysis of farmers' water conservation behaviour: The case of the Kavar plain, Iran

Agricultural activities have a lot of effects on the environment so that water conservation measures help produce crops and consume water resources sustainably. The present research mainly aimed to explore farmers' water conservation behaviour using the comprehensive action determination model (CADM). The research was conducted on the farmers in the Kavar plain in Fars province, Iran (N = 4000). The sample including 351 farmers was taken by the stratified random sampling technique. The measurement instrument was a questionnaire whose face and content validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. To check its reliability, a pilot study was conducted to calculate Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability (CR). The results showed that the indicators used to measure the research variables properly fitted the factor structure and the theoretical framework of the study. Based on the results, social norms (β = 0.26), personal norms (β = 0.22), attitude (β = 0.33), objective constraints (β = 0.38), and subjective constraints (β = 0.29) affect farmers' water conservation intention positively and significantly. Also, farmers' behaviour is influenced by their intention (β = 0.6), as well as their subjective (β = 0.73) and objective constraints (β = 0.58). It can be concluded that farmers' water conservation behavior is shaped by a process that involves their normative process, habitual process, situation, and attitudes.

Water conservation behavior: Exploring the role of social, psychological, and behavioral determinants

Water conservation is vital to safeguard future water availability when natural resources like water become extremely scarce. It is fundamental to understand the significant determinants of water conservation activities which can also facilitate the implementation of appropriate policies for water demand management. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine the important social, psychological, and behavioral factors of water conservation behavior. A questionnaire survey was used to collect the data from 625 international students and employees from different universities in Japan. The structural equation modeling demonstrated that the proposed model explained 46% of the variation in water conservation behavior. Awareness of water issues was highly related to attitude, responsibility, and culture. Except for culture, attitude and responsibility were significantly connected with emotion. Finally, emotion, habit, culture and involvement were significantly and positively associated with water conservation behavior. These factors are incorporated for the first time in this study into a single model to better understand individual water conservation behavior. The sequential regression model showed that all determinants including demographic factors raised the variation's proportion by 53% in water conservation. Female participants had a significantly higher positive attitude, emotion, and water conservation behavior than male participants. Older participants exhibited higher levels of awareness, habit, culture, and water conservation behavior when compared to younger people. Lastly, participants believed that the most dominant component in water conservation behavior was the awareness of water issues. These findings could assist policymakers in raising household awareness, accountability, and involvement towards water conservation efforts.

Socio-psychological determinants of Iranian rural households' adoption of water consumption curtailment behaviors

Dealing with a growing population and a shortage of drinking water is a major challenge for politicians and planners. A key factor in ensuring a sustainable water supply is water conservation at the household level, which can increase productivity and save water resources. Therefore, promoting water consumption curtailment behavior will contribute significantly to reducing the global water crisis, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Water consumption curtailment behaviors depend on individuals’ encouragement to choose and adopt voluntary behaviors and cannot be enforced by any political or planning power. In order to encourage water conservation those social and psychological factors should be considered that influence individuals to participate or adopt water consumption curtailment behaviors. Therefore, the study of factors influencing rural households' water consumption curtailment behaviors is of great importance. This study aimed to describe the socio-psychological factors influencing water consumption curtailment behaviors among rural households in southwestern Iran. The extended theory of planned behavior (ETPB) was used as a theoretical framework in this study along with descriptive norms (DN), moral norms (MN), habits, and justification. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that ETPB can explain 35% and 54% of intention and water consumption curtailment behaviors among rural households in Iran. Our findings may assist policymakers in reducing domestic water consumption.

Promoting the adoption of residential water conservation behaviors as a preventive policy to sustainable urban water management

As concerning with water insecurity driven by water scarcity threatens the lives and livelihoods of humanity worldwide, urban water demand management is focused on promoting residential water conservation behaviors (WCBs) as a critical policy response to water scarcity. However, urban water conservation initiatives cannot be successful unless households involve in residential WCBs voluntarily by adopting water curtailment and/or water-efficiency actions. Thus, understanding motivations and mechanisms underlying accepting these two types of WCBs and interpreting their distinctions are primary policy considerations to make sustainable water consumption behaviors. Hence, the purpose of this research was twofold: (1) To explore intentions to household adoption of water curtailment and water-efficiency actions, key corresponding determinants, and distinctions between them; and (2) To evaluate the capability and robustness of the Health Belief Model (HBM) to explain residential WCBs. The present research design was a cross-sectional survey conducted in Tehran, Iran. The outcomes from structural equation modeling indicated that: (1) Water curtailment intention was solely determined by self-efficacy and perceived benefits; (2) In addition to self-efficacy and perceived benefits, perceived severity, cues to action, and perceived barriers were significantly related to water-efficiency intention; (3) While only perceived susceptibility was not a significant determinant for water-efficiency intention, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barriers, and cues to action could not significantly explain water curtailment intention; (4) Self-efficacy also emerged as the strongest predictive variable behind intentions to adopt both WCBs; (5) The perceived barriers had a negative significant relationship only with water-efficiency intention; and (6) The HBM could explain 72% and 61% of the variance in households' intentions to adopt water curtailment and water-efficiency actions, respectively. These outcomes supported that the HBM could propose a reliable and practical heuristic theoretical framework to predict residential WCBs. Moreover, the findings confirmed significant differences among socio-psychological factors behind intentions to household adoption of both WCBs, which need to be addressed. The research results introduced numerous implications from theoretical and policy standpoints for improving residential WCBs.

How can socio-psychological factors be related to water-efficiency intention and behaviors among Iranian residential water consumers?

Water security while facing a growing water demand and decreasing supply has become a vital issue in urban areas, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Considering households' potential for significant water saving, residential water conservation has become the main component of the future sustainable water supply. To encourage households to engage in water conservation behaviors voluntarily, it is crucial to recognize and consider the socio-psychological factors influencing acceptance of such behaviors, including intention, normative aspects, and so on, because it can lead to the implementation of effective policies in urban water demand management. The main goal of the current research was to investigate the prerequisites and determinants of household water-efficiency intention and behaviors among Iranian citizens. To that end, the current research was based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and extended TPB by adding three new variables: moral norm, perceived risk, and familiarity to the theoretical framework. A questionnaire survey method (N = 820) was used to collect data from Tehran citizens. Structural equation modeling revealed that intention to adopt water-efficiency behaviors was predicted by attitude, perceived behavioral control (the most potent predictor), moral norm, perceived risk, and familiarity. Water-efficiency behaviors were predicted by intention, perceived behavioral control, and familiarity (the strongest determinant). Perceived risk was also a substantial determinant for attitude and moral norm. The findings indicated that both TPB and extended TPB frameworks are useful and practical tools for explaining the relationship between socio-psychological factors and water-efficiency intention and behaviors. Moreover, after the inclusion of the three new variables of moral norm, perceived risk, and familiarity in the original TPB, its predictive power for intention and behaviors increased up to 9% and 21%, respectively. According to the results, implications for improving and promoting water-efficiency intention and behaviors among households and suggestions for relevant future studies are proposed.

Does the Household Save Water? Evidence from Behavioral Analysis

Management of water supply in urban areas is a challenge that must be faced by water supply companies to ensure the continuity of domestic water supply to the residents in the area. Hence, this study aims to identify local people’s behavior and daily activities that led to domestic water wastage. Furthermore, the relationship between the demographic factors of the population trends in reducing water use through water savings in their daily activities or installing a home-saving water system is also undertaken. The data were analyzed and interpreted using IBM SPSS software such as descriptive analysis, covering frequencies, mean and standard deviation, correlation with bivariate correlation, cross-tabulation, and multivariate analysis (MANOVA). Availability and demand in water management will only be managed if water resources and water supply engineers address all the balance sides. It will ensure a more comprehensive and interconnected water sector, ensuring the security and sustainability of water.

Evaluating the effectiveness of the water-saving society construction in China: A quasi-natural experiment

The conservation and efficient use of water resources are directly related to the sustainable and high-quality development in China. This paper regards the pilot policy of water-saving society construction as a quasi-natural experiment, and employs a differences-in-differences approach to evaluate the effectiveness of urban water-saving policies and exploit its drive mechanism by using the panel data of 263 cities in China from 2001 to 2016. Findings show that the pilot policy of water-saving society construction can achieve better water-saving effects, which can not only promote the reduction of urban water consumption in intensity and total amount, but also improve the efficiency of water resources utilization. And this policy has brought long-term dynamic effects on the urban water resources conservation. Heterogeneous effects exist in different types of cities, that is, the water-saving performance is more significant in cities with sufficient water resources and in central China. Besides, this paper finds that the impact of this water-saving policy on urban water resource conservation is mainly through two channels such as water resources infrastructure investment and water resources pricing. These findings provide useful inspirations for local governments to take effective economic measures to manage water resources.

Long-Term Trends in 20-Day Cumulative Precipitation for Residential Rainwater Harvesting in Poland

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) for domestic uses is widely regarded as an economic and ecological solution in water conservation and storm management programs. This paper aims at evaluating long-term trends in 20-day cumulative rainfall periods per year in Poland, for assessing its impact on the design and operation conditions for RWH systems and resource availability. The time-series employed corresponds to a set of 50-year long time-series of rainfall (from 1970 to 2019) recorded at 19 synoptic meteorological stations scattered across Poland, one of the European countries with the lowest water availability index. The methods employed for assessing trends were the Mann–Kendall test (M–K) and the Sen’s slope estimator. Most of the datasets exhibit stationary behaviour during the 50-year long period, however, statistically significant downward trends were detected for precipitations in Wrocław and Opole. The findings of this study are valuable assets for integrated water management and sustainable planning in Poland.

Beyond the flow rate: the importance of thermal range, flow intensity, and distribution for water-efficient showers

Studies show that user behaviours have not necessarily changed, despite the prevalence of water-efficient products in the market. One reason is because the technical emphasis for delivering the water use efficiency of products has focused on reducing the flow rate. Therefore, this study was undertaken to examine the physical parameters that define the technical efficiency of showerheads against the experiential performance (and therefore the satisfaction with the showerheads). These parameters were measured in a controlled laboratory environment and the findings were triangulated against user feedback from in-home trials. Synergies between the laboratory data and user feedback were found. Notably, it was found that water spray intensity, distribution, and temperature loss all impact the quality of showering experience. These factors also influence shower duration-and thus the volume of water used in the shower. Significantly, these technical metrics affected the overall experiential performance of such products from the users' perspective. Therefore, the design of water-efficient showerheads, in addition to delivering water discharge savings, should avoid poor spray distribution, intensity, and heat retention. The implications of the findings are that water efficiency labelling and product standards should extend beyond the emphasis on limiting the flow rates-typically to 9 l per min for showerheads. This study shows good merit for including the spray intensity (pressure), distribution, and degree of heat loss, in addition to the discharge rate, as part of the performance and efficiency considerations of showerheads.

Enhancing domestic water conservation behaviour: A review of empirical studies on influencing tactics

The world faces imminent drought-related challenges that, from a tap-water supply perspective, require increasingly expensive infrastructure enhancement and energy expansion to maintain sufficient service levels. This paper argues that enhancing domestic water conservation provides a promising alternative or necessary addition to reduce costs and to stimulate pro-environmental behaviour. Although the number of field experiments on how people's behaviour can be changed with respect to their daily water consumption is growing, to date, most studies in this field have focussed either on explanatory socio-economic factors (e.g. water pricing, income, or family composition) or behavioural intentions and personal characteristics related to behavioural change. Accordingly, there is limited empirically validated knowledge about the use and effectiveness of different influencing tactics to change behaviour. This paper provides a review of the empirically oriented literature in this field and aims to provide an up-to-date assessment that identifies eight different Behavioural Influencing Tactics (BITs) that target long-term water conservation behaviour within households. Our analysis is structured around three information processing routes: the reflective route, the semi-reflective route, and the automatic route. We conclude that the current body of literature is promising and provides a useful body of evidence on the range and effectiveness of individual water conservation mechanisms, but that needs further development to deepen our understanding of how to effectively prolong and reinforce newly formed water conservation routines.

Water–Energy Nexus for Multi-Criteria Decision Making in Water Resource Management: A Case Study of Choshui River Basin in Taiwan

The Choshui river basin, the mother river in Taiwan, suffers from severe water shortage from extensive water use in irrigation as well as land subsidence from over-pumping of groundwater. To address these challenges, several water-related strategies and actions, including enhancement of water-use efficiency, development of alternative water sources, and improvement in effective water management, were proposed in this study to support sustainable water resource management in the watershed. Management of water resources in Taiwan is expected to confront not only freshwater resource but also energy source constraints. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), an approach for ranking overall performances of decision options, was then used to prioritize the water resource management strategies. The analysis considered economic (economic feasibility) and environmental (stability from the influence of climate change) criteria in the context of water–energy nexus (water supply/conservation potential and systemic energy efficiency). Our results indicated that, while economic feasibility was considered as the most important factor in implementation of the practices, improvement in groundwater pumping control and management was ranked as a high-priority water resource management action, followed by initiating water conservation programs for residential sector and reducing leakage rate for agricultural irrigation canals. The results from this study are expected to provide direction for future decision making in water resource management.

Understanding Fundamental Phenomena Affecting the Water Conservation Technology Adoption of Residential Consumers Using Agent-Based Modeling

More than one billion people will face water scarcity within the next ten years due to climate change and unsustainable water usage, and this number is only expected to grow exponentially in the future. At current water use rates, supply-side demand management is no longer an effective way to combat water scarcity. Instead, many municipalities and water agencies are looking to demand-side solutions to prevent major water loss. While changing conservation behavior is one demand-based strategy, there is a growing movement toward the adoption of water conservation technology as a way to solve water resource depletion. Installing technology into one’s household requires additional costs and motivation, creating a gap between the overall potential households that could adopt this technology, and how many actually do. This study identified and modeled a variety of demographic and household characteristics, social network influence, and external factors such as water price and rebate policy to see their effect on residential water conservation technology adoption. Using Agent-based Modeling and data obtained from the City of Miami Beach, the coupled effects of these factors were evaluated to examine the effectiveness of different pathways towards the adoption of more water conservation technologies. The results showed that income growth and water pricing structure, more so than any of the demographic or building characteristics, impacted household adoption of water conservation technologies. The results also revealed that the effectiveness of rebate programs depends on conservation technology cost and the affluence of the community. Rebate allocation did influence expensive technology adoption, with the potential to increase the adoption rate by 50%. Additionally, social network connections were shown to have an impact on the rate of adoption independent of price strategy or rebate status. These findings will lead the way for municipalities and other water agencies to more strategically implement interventions to encourage household technology adoption based on the characteristics of their communities.