Predicting and understanding home garden water use

Abstract

There is now substantial literature describing the importance of home gardens for a variety of quality of life variables such as avoidance of stress, recreation and personal and social identity. From a water resource management perspective it is reasonable to hypothesise that those households that gain the most personal benefits from their gardens will use more water. Consideration of the relationship between quality of life and external water use needs to be made if policies in relation to demand management, supply reliability and restrictions are to reflect community values adequately. In this study, estimates were made of external water use, the total water use outside home (e.g. on lawns, gardens, or swimming pools) for 397 households in detached housing in Perth, WA. Measurements were made of a variety of socio-demographic variables which may affect water use. These included income, block size, swimming pool ownership and so on. In addition five latent attitudinal or quality of life variables were measured. These were the importance of garden and natural space for personal lifestyle satisfaction, interest in gardening, attitudes towards the garden as a source of recreation, attitudes to water conservation and a social desirability scale. External water use was modelled using structural equations with the latent variables. The expected socio-demographic variables such as block size or swimming pool ownership were found to influence water use. Lifestyle, garden interest and garden recreation activities were found to be related but all had a direct influence on external water use. Attitudes towards water conservation unlike previous studies also directly affected external usage. It appeared that the interaction between attitudinal and socio-demographic influences were minimal on external water use. The significance of these findings for evaluating the performance of water utilities on the social dimension of sustainability is discussed. Finally, the need for appropriate specificity in attitudinal and water use measurement in demand prediction studies is highlighted.