Abstract
In rapidly growing urban areas in India and the developing world, water demands typically exceed supply. While local governments may implement management programs to reduce demand for freshwater, water savings are dependent on the conservation behaviors of individuals. A household survey is presented here to examine residential water end uses and conservation behaviors in Jaipur, India. The survey explores end uses, engagement in conservation behaviors, and the influence of demographic factors, water sources, beliefs about water, and social pressures on these behaviors are tested. The survey was conducted at 248 households, including 29 households in the slums. Our study finds that while the majority of participants recognize the importance of water conservation, they do not necessarily conserve water themselves. Households report engaging most frequently in water-conservation behaviors that require little effort or financial investment. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) results and subsequent pairwise comparisons indicate higher incomes, longer water-supply durations, and the belief that droughts are preventable are positively correlated with overall amenability to adoption of water-conservation behaviors and technology. Binomial logistic regression analysis indicates that being in the age group 26–35, having higher income, and giving a neutral response about the responsibility of the government to provide relief during a drought were all predictors of the installation of dual-flush (DF) toilets. Education levels and water awareness were found to have no correlation with conservation behaviors or amenability to conservation technology adoption. Results are applied to examine their possible implications from a demand-management perspective and provide suggestions for further research and policy decisions.
Highlights
Over one-third of the world’s population, 2.6 billion people, lives in cities in the developing world
Studies exploring the relationships between residential water consumption, water-conservation behaviors, socio-demographic factors, environmental attitudes, and pricing have been widely conducted in industrialized nations, including the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, and Spain [12,13,14,15,16,17,18]
This study shows trends in water consumption and conservation behaviors and explores their connections with self-efficacy, social norms, and amenability to conservation scenarios
Summary
Over one-third of the world’s population, 2.6 billion people, lives in cities in the developing world. By 2110, this number is projected to rise to 7.8 billion, accounting for 70.9% of the projected global population of 11 billion people [1] In many of these cities, water-infrastructure systems already cannot provide adequate water supply to meet current demands, which will continue to grow as the urban population increases. Studies exploring the relationships between residential water consumption, water-conservation behaviors, socio-demographic factors, environmental attitudes, and pricing have been widely conducted in industrialized nations, including the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, and Spain [12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. Empirical evidence suggests that the relationship between environmental attitudes and conservation behavior is stronger for low-income groups than for high-income groups; that is, environmentally conscientious wealthy households consume more water than their poorer environmentally conscientious counterparts [24]
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