Water Efficient Appliances Research Articles

OPENING THE BLACK BOX OF WATER CONSERVATION BEHAVIOR: HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

Water is becoming increasingly scarce due to physiochemical changes in the environment brought on by human activities. This scarcity of water resources if not managed properly can lead to disastrous situations. It is therefore imperative to introduce an effective water conservative system that could handle this very deadly important resource. Thus, considering the above factors, this research aims to provide empirical and physical information from Pakistan's less developed areas, depicting people's attitudes and activities about water conservation at home (WC). For that purpose, demand management" measures were used to collect data as it jointly includes engineering practices/regulatory measures and behavioral practices which include attitudinal and market-oriented measures. Survey results indicate that people show positive attitudes towards WC but mixed responses were observed to water saving appliances. However, it was experienced through water audit that these positive attitudes are poorly deciphered into practicing the behavior. Only 20% of people are using a few water efficient appliances and they do not bother minor to moderate leaks in water supply pipes. The major obstacles to the application of water conservation habits are the high costs of appliances and a lack of awareness about water scarcity. So, it is proposed that repairing tiny breaches might save a household 1000 liters each day. Moreover, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by addressing the difficulty related to water conservation and increasing the exposure for decision-makers to support this process in the Pakistani context. Keywords: Water Conservation; Demand Management; Water Efficient Appliances.

Two (or more) for one: Identifying classes of household energy- and water-saving measures to understand the potential for positive spillover.

A key component of behavior-based energy conservation programs is the identification of target behaviors. A common approach is to target behaviors with the greatest energy-saving potential. The concept of behavioral spillover introduces further considerations, namely that adoption of one energy-saving behavior may increase (or decrease) the likelihood of other energy-saving behaviors. This research aimed to identify and describe household energy- and water-saving measure classes within which positive spillover is likely to occur (e.g., adoption of energy-efficient appliances may correlate with adoption of water-efficient appliances), and explore demographic and psychographic predictors of each. Nearly 1,000 households in a California city were surveyed and asked to report whether they had adopted 75 different energy- and/or water-saving measures. Principal Component Analysis and Network Analysis based on correlations between adoption of these diverse measures revealed and characterized eight water-energy-saving measure classes: Water Conservation, Energy Conservation, Maintenance and Management, Efficient Appliance, Advanced Efficiency, Efficient Irrigation, Green Gardening, and Green Landscaping. Understanding these measure classes can help guide behavior-based energy program developers in selecting target behaviors and designing interventions.

Water neutrality framework for systemic design of new urban developments

The climate emergency and population growth threaten urban water security in cities worldwide. Growth, urbanisation, and changes to way of life have increased housing demand, requiring cities such as London to increase their housing stock by more than 15% over the next 10 years. These new urban developments will increase water demand, urban flood risk, and river water pollution levels; therefore, an integrated systems-based approach to development and water management is needed. Water Neutrality (WN) has emerged as a concept to frame the concerns about escalating water stresses in cities. We frame WN as a planning process for new urban developments that aims to minimise impacts on urban water security and offset any remaining stresses by retrofitting existing housing stock. In this work, we present a novel systemic design framework for future urban planning called CityPlan-Water, which guides how WN might be achieved to tackle current and future water pressures at a city scale. CityPlan-Water integrates spatial data with an integrated urban water management model, enabling urban design at a systems level and systematic assessment of future scenarios. We define a Water Neutrality Index that captures how successful a given urban planning scenario is in achieving WN and how multiple interventions could be combined at a city scale to improve WN. Results from CityPlan-Water suggest that it will be necessary to retrofit almost the same number of existing homes with WN design options to completely offset the impact imposed by proposed new developments. Combining options such as water efficient appliances, water reuse systems, and social awareness campaigns can offset the impact of new development on water demand by 70%, while to neutralise potential flood risk and water pollution at a city scale, interventions such as rainwater harvesting and Blue Green Infrastructure need to be added both in new urban developments and 432,000 existing London households. We see CityPlan-Water as a tool that can support the transition of urban planning towards using data-driven analysis to effectively design water neutral housing and drive sustainable development.

Assessment of Sustainable Indoor Water Management in Mkwawa University College of Education, Tanzania

Water is an essential natural resource for human life. It is the engine for economic, social, and cultural development. While its availability is influenced by population increase and climate change, its sustainable management is mainly a function of behavioural and technological factors. This paper assesses sustainable indoor water management in Mkwawa University College of Education, Tanzania. It involved a cross-sectional research approach, where the data were collected using questionnaires, field observations, and documentary review methods. Results revealed a sort of unsustainable indoor water management emanating mainly from behavioural and technological factors. Behavioural factors include the use of the bucket for bathing instead of showers (80%) , spending more than 15 minutes in bathing using showers (43%) , and reluctance to report water leakages to responsible authorities (16%) . Technological factors included the lack of water-efficient appliances such as low flow showerheads, toilets, and faucets. It was also found that out of the 769 water appliances observed in the toilets, bathrooms, and laundries, 21% were not working, and 20% were leaking; leading to the use of unsustainable gadgets for the former, and water loss for the latter. Water outage was the main challenge facing students in the College. While behavioural change is recommended to students to minimise water use, the College should install water-efficient appliances and increase water storage facilities for sustainable indoor water management.

Botswana stock exchange listed companies and sustainable water demand management

The rise in world population growth and its attendant rise in demand for food and living standards in addition to climate change scenarios continue to warrant the need for sustainable management of natural resources. The paper, therefore, analysed climate change actions and water demand management approaches employed by Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed companies to manage water resources. Fourteen of the twenty-four domestic companies were reviewed using self-completed, open ended questionnaires and secondary data. Thematic Analysis method of qualitative research was employed to analyse the textual data. The results revealed that water demand management (WDM) practices and strategies among companies ranged from, rainwater harvesting, water reclamation and reuse, water efficient fixtures and appliances, awareness/knowledge creation strategies and risk management. The unearthed information on private companies’ holistic water use strategies could facilitate environmental sustainability and operational economic gains.

Understanding household water-use behaviour in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract Climate change, population growth and industrial activities continue to threaten water security, especially in the semi-arid regions. Demand management policies are essential in minimising the effects of acute water shortages. Such policies require information on household water consumption patterns and their behavioural practices. This study examines household water consumption behaviour and the adoption of water-efficient appliances in Johannesburg, South Africa. The study uses probit regression models to analyse survey data collected from 889 households during the period November 2017 to February 2018. Results show that while most households do not have water-efficient appliances installed in their homes, they do practise water-efficient behaviour. Older respondents as well as males and lower-income respondents are found to be more likely to practise efficient water-use behaviour. However, biographical variables do not generally influence the adoption of water-efficient appliances. These results are essential for policy-makers when formulating targeted water demand management policies. Thus, policy-makers should focus more on younger people, women and higher-income households when developing campaigns on efficient water-use behaviour.

Water Sustainability: Current and Future Challenges at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India

SRMIST has healthy approach to sustainability, incorporating social economic and environmental principles that have been in place for nearly a decade implementing short and long-term sustainable objectives. SRMIST developed, maintained the estate, and the surrounding landscape, with due environmental impact and social values and implemented effective, efficient utility management measures, policies and procedures. The 2018/2019 UI Green Metric ranked SRMIST as 9 th in India and 392nd in Global Ranking overall and 264th rank globally and 9th rank in India for water parameter and 3rd in the Nation and 243rd globally and 2nd rank nationally and 42nd rank globally for water. SRM IST improved implementation of the water conservation and recycling program from 75% in 2018 to 95 % in 2019. Water efficient appliances increased > 70% and has a long-term commitment for conservation of water by regularly monitoring the use of water with regular meters. SRMIST has 20 RO plants running 24x7 collecting 31,000L per day for all and installing Ultra Filtration unit. SRMIST’s goal is to reduce per capita water consumption varies from 3.7m3 to 3.3m. Among the 4600 M3 waste water generated an average 4140 M3 wastewater is treated and recycled. Rainwater harvesting pits have been constructed in 65% college buildings and hostels is used for the water recharge in the campus and the rainwater stored in the roof tanks are used for toilet flushing.

Innovations in Water Management for Sustainable Development of Higher Education Institutions: Experience from Ton Duc Thang University, Vietnam

Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU), which was established in 1997, is a fully autonomous public university in Vietnam. After over 22 years of development, TDTU is now the number one university in Vietnam for all aspects. In 2019, TDTU was ranked the 1st in Vietnam and ranked 165th in the world on sustainable development by UI GreenMetric World University Rankings (UI GreenMetric). Among six categories of UI GreenMetric, including: setting and infrastructure, energy and climate change, waste, water, transport, and education, the water category of TDTU achieved 725 points out of 1000 maximum points (72.50%). This paper presents water management of TDTU, focusing on water conservation, water recycling, the use of water efficient appliances and piped water consumption. Specifically, the paper highlights innovations in water management that TDTU has implemented during the past few years. The paper concludes that sustainable water management makes great contribution to sustainable development of a higher education institution

Simulating the impact of water demand management options on water consumption and wastewater generation profiles

ABSTRACT This paper describes the development and application of a simulation tool to assess the impact of water-efficient appliances and greywater recycling strategies on the domestic water consumption and wastewater generation profiles. Two time-series datasets of domestic water consumption in UK households – each consisting of more than 20,000 observations – were used to deduce water use appliance usage patterns as a function of water consumption per use for each water-use appliance and household characteristic (e.g. occupancy). The deduced trends were then used to develop a simulation tool that can generate water consumption and wastewater generation profiles reflecting user input for water use appliances and household characteristics. The inbuilt flexibility in the tool allows investigation of each water use appliance both individually and collectively, and facilitates informed decision-making for devising targeted retrofitting programmes. This research has application for water service provision and policy making globally, with potential impact on both water supply and wastewater management.

An agent-based framework for high-resolution modeling of domestic water use

Many cities have been suffering from severe water deficiency in recent years due to rapid urban expansion, socioeconomic development, population growth, and climate change. Domestic water use plays an important role in the total urban water use. A framework for estimating domestic water use is highly needed to develop adaptive measures for efficient water use under climate change and urbanization. In this study, we developed an agent-based model (ABM) with two groups of agents to estimate the domestic water use. These two groups include the government agent that determines the income growth rate, adjusts water prices, and promotes water-efficient appliances, and the residential agents who consume water. To better capture the impact of urbanization and climate change on water use, the utility function of residential agents was further divided into base water use related to economic condition and seasonal water use that is sensitive to climate conditions. Moreover, a bass diffusion model was proposed and integrated into the ABM to consider the diffusion of water-efficient appliances. Results show that our ABM can capture the spatiotemporal pattern of domestic water use in different regions. Residents in the central urban area consume more water compared to residents in the suburbs in the study cities in China, but it is opposite in the study counties in the US. The growth of income and water-efficient appliances are two factors affecting domestic water use. The proposed modeling framework is transferrable to other regions to develop strategies for mitigating domestic water use.

Water Conservation Through Voluntary Responsible Behaviour at Botho University in Botswana

In 2016, the Paris agreement on climate change agreed to limit the global warming well below 2°C, and ideally 1.5°C by the end of the century. Even-though the global temperature on track shows a raise towards 3.2°C by the end of the century breaking 1.5°C target by 2040, one wonders how the Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR) assessed the vulnerability of Botswana in reaching the limit, 2°C. Accordingly, Botswana will show a steady raise in temperature to 2.8°C, the annual rainfall will drop by 9% and increase in dry days by 17 extra days. In addition, even the Limpopo catchment in Botswana will show a decline by 36%. Given these scenarios, water as a lifelong commodity becomes highly vulnerable in Botswana. With a view to mitigate the intensity, the local, regional and international legal, policy and institutional framework legislated, agreed otherwise ratified expects a sustainable water management by voluntary, responsible behaviour from the consumers apart from other stakeholders in Botswana. For example, 2030 Agenda for 17 SDGs: the SDG 06: Clean Water and Sanitation & 12^th SDG: Responsible Consumption and Production. Consequently, this study qualitatively investigated the ex-ante and ex-post behavior of a consumer manifested by the strategic management in the light of theory of planned behavior for the water conservation project implemented by installation of newer water efficient appliances at Botho University in a landlocked country, Botswana. The test of theory of planned behaviour finds that the attitudes, social norms and Perceived Behavioural Control of the strategic management made strong intention for the responsible behavioural change in implementing the project. Further, the project has been able to save the water by 80%, supply water continuously to consumers, protect the environment and further a cost saving to the university. These findings will be significant to ascertain how antecedent factors determine the decision making behaviour of a water conservation project. Such understanding acts as a catalyst for African universities to be a beacon of vision and mission in water conservation, distribution and governance in Africa in which continent 33% of people are affected by water scarcity which is getting worse with urbanization, population, industrial use and climate change.

Interrelations among self-reported water use behavior, awareness, and metered water consumption in domestic use in Southern Sri Lanka

Water use behaviors, awareness on the water conservation and purification process have an influence on the water consumption of people. Hence, this study assimilates measured water consumption and the data collected in a questionnaire survey to understand the relationship between self-reported water use behaviors and measured water consumption. The study was conducted in four coastal cities in southern Sri Lanka and about 70% of households had alternative water resources. First, self-reported water use behaviors were used to cluster the sample into two clusters. Households reported with highly positive water use behaviors (HPB) were consuming less water than those who with moderately positive water use behaviors (MPB). Positive water use behaviors of HPB group seems to be supported with their higher awareness on the need for water conservation and water treatment process and associated costs. Therefore, this study suggests that increasing awareness on the need of water conservation, underuse of water, water efficient appliances and increasing the awareness on the water treatment and distribution process and cost will help in shifting consumers towards positive water use behaviors.

Identifying the Drivers of Water Consumption in Single-Family Households in Joinville, Southern Brazil

This study aims to identify the factors that may influence water consumption in single-family households in the city of Joinville, Southern Brazil. Through questionnaires, data were collected from 108 households in several neighborhoods of the city. The questionnaires contained open-ended and closed-ended questions involving the surrounding infrastructure, socio-economic and demographic characteristics, constructive characteristics, installed plumbing fixtures, and water-use habits, totaling 57 variables. The independent variables were correlated to monthly water consumption (m3/month/household) and per capita consumption (liters/person/day) of each household. The statistically significant variables that affected households water consumption were related to demographic characteristics such as number of residents and educational level, construction features (i.e., number of bathrooms, building age, and built area), the presence of water-efficient appliances and water conservation habits. The results obtained can contribute to the development of new studies on water consumption and sustainable policies and awareness on the importance of water conservation.

Water sustainable house: water auditing of 3 case studies in Perth, Western Australia

Abstract Householders in cities face water-related issues due to the increasing cost and restrictions in water use, especially during drought. They respond in many different ways, ranging from installing water efficient appliances, adopting water-saving behavior and implementing greywater reuse, to being water self reliant (off-mains supply). The latter approach should consider using only rainwater falling on the property boundaries, and if self-supply is from groundwater it should be derived from rainwater falling on the property. Therefore, sustainability depends on the annual rainfall, size of property and availability of storage for water to be used during periods without rainfall. In principle any house can be retrofitted to rely solely on rainwater, because technologies exist to treat subsequent wastewater to any quality desired for reuse. However, the energy requirement and investment needed may negate overall sustainability. Very few studies have assessed water use in households to determine whether relying solely on rainwater is practical or sustainable in the long-term. Three case studies in Perth, Western Australia are reported here, where water auditing has been used for sustainability assessment.

Evaluation of Design Flow Rate of Water Supply Systems with Low Flow Showering Appliances

The installation of water efficient appliances is an efficient demand-side water management measure favored by policymakers and water providers nowadays. The adoption of low flow showerheads in large and complex plumbing systems will not only contribute to a great reduction of shower water use in the whole water system, but also further influence the water supply system design. Hence, it is necessary to justify the redesign of existing water supply systems (such as the pipe size, storage tank volume, pumping arrangement etc.) in terms of the use of low flow showerheads. This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the design flow rate for a typical high-rise roof tank water supply system in Hong Kong with the installation of low flow showerheads. The simulation results indicate that a full installation of low flow showerheads can decrease the design flow rate by 15%, corresponding to an energy efficiency improvement of 1.5%. The potential for water savings and associated energy savings can be significantly higher when all installed appliances in homes are water efficient (e.g., showerheads, water taps, washing machines). Further work is required to evaluate the redesign of existing water supply systems for a sustainable future.

Promoting consumer adoption of water-efficient washing machines in China: Barriers and countermeasures

The increasing popularity of water-efficient appliances is vital for water conservation. However, only few studies have investigated the purchasing behaviour of consumers and its influencing factors, particularly the use of water-saving washing machines (h-axis cloth washers). In this study, we analysed the effects of individual characteristics (e.g. knowledge, attitude and information source), selection criteria and selling points on the purchase of h-axis cloth washers and distinguished the buyers of h-axis cloth washers from those of conventional washing machines (v-axis cloth washers) by conducting a detailed survey of 321 consumers in four cities of northern China. We then evaluated data via one-way ANOVA and binary logistic regression. The choice of a consumer to purchase h-axis cloth washers was positively associated with his/her education, income and water conservation awareness, the energy and water use efficiency of the product and the popularisation of e-commerce and manufacturer websites. High price, information opacity, perceived negative benefits and ineffective communication were identified as the main barriers for selecting h-axis cloth washers. Public programs for promoting the purchase of h-axis cloth washers need to enhance information transparency and effectively communicate the benefits and costs of buying these appliances. Community-based education, salesman supervision, information transparency of water and electricity bills and cloth washer labels are also recommended.

The Development of a Simulated Sediment Dosing Apparatus for Deposition Research in Wastewater Collection Systems

Water conservation initiatives promote installation of water efficient and low-flow appliances in waste water collection systems. This has resulted in lower flow rates in those systems than the intended design loading, causing solid deposition and sedimentation in some areas. A joint UKWIR/EPSRC CASE grant (14440031) has funded the work described in this paper which investigates sedimentation and solid deposition in building drainage system pipes. The purpose of this paper is to detail the design, calibration and operation of a sediment dosing apparatus to simulate sedimentation rates and explore possible solutions to this issue with a full scale laboratory model based on real site data. The methodology adopted is an experimental approach, where tests have been conducted on the sediment dosing apparatus based on calculations and observations to determine an appropriate sediment dosing regime representative of typical systems. Further tests were conducted with the addition of everyday household products to investigate their effects on sedimentation. The results indicated that a suitable dosing rate was approximately 12% weight-to-volume (w/v) of a fine sand with a known particle size distribution, diluted 1:5 in a clean water base flow. It was also shown that the addition of the household products added to the problem of sedimentation within drainage systems. The results give excellent correlation to real site data, with deposition depth and distribution comparable to measured site data to within 10%. The deposition was achieved within three hours, which approximated six weeks deposition in the live site used in the study. This straightforward investigation details the design, construction and testing of a device to cause accelerated sedimentation in a full scale model of a building drainage system. This is the first step in the process of updating research underpinning our understanding of the behaviour of these systems under conditions of low flow rates caused by water conservation, sedimentation, and the use of common household additives. It will be used to improve simulation of water flow and solid transport in sediment-laden systems. Specifically, the results will be used to determine refinements required to a specific drainage simulation model (DRAINET), which currently has an unquantified sedimentation component. This work is part of a larger body of current research funded by two joint EPSRK/UKWIR grants.

Environmental benefit analysis of strategies for potable water savings in residential buildings

The objective of this study is to assess the environmental benefit of using rainwater, greywater, water-efficient appliances and their combinations in low-income houses. The study was conducted surveying twenty households located in southern Brazil, which resulted in water end-uses estimation. Then, embodied energy, potential for potable water savings and sewage reduction when using the different strategies were estimated. The environmental benefit analysis of these strategies was performed using an indicator that includes embodied energy, potable water savings, reduction of sewage and energy consumption in the water utility, and sewage production during the life cycle of the system. The results indicated that the strategy with the greatest environmental benefit is the use of water-efficient appliances, which resulted in substantial water savings and reduction of sewage, causing low environmental impact due to lower embodied energy over the life cycle.

Relating Knowledge and Perceptions of Sustainable Water Management to Preferences for Smart Irrigation Technology

Water quantity and quality concerns in urban environments have prompted conservation groups, governmental agencies, and policy makers to develop and promote residential water conservation programs, including restrictions on residential landscape irrigation practices and incentives for the adoption of water-efficient appliances. Previous literature links household characteristics, financial incentives, and demographic characteristics to the adoption of water-efficient appliances and overall water use. However, relatively little attention has been given toward understanding how homeowners’ perceptions and knowledge of smart irrigation technologies affect their preferences or stated purchase likelihood of such irrigation equipment. To address this gap in the literature, this paper identifies perception- and knowledge-related factors that are correlated with the purchase likelihood of smart irrigation controllers. The generalized logit regression model results suggest that knowledge about irrigation systems and residential landscaping are positively correlated with purchase likelihood. Similarly, homeowners’ perceptions about conservation efforts, water restrictions, and their neighbors’ irrigation habits all increase purchase likelihood. Combined with statistically-significant correlations of several socio-demographic variables and purchase likelihood, these results have theoretical and practical implications, which are summarized in this paper.

Household adoption of energy and water-efficient appliances: An analysis of attitudes, labelling and complementary green behaviours in selected OECD countries

Using a household-based data set of more than 12,000 households from 11 OECD countries, we analyse the factors underlying the decision by households to adopt energy-efficient and water-efficient equipment. We evaluate the roles of both attitudes and labelling schemes on the adoption of energy and water-efficient equipment, and also the interaction and complementarity between energy and water conservation behaviours. Our findings show: one, ‘green’ social norms and favourable attitudes towards the environment are associated with an increased likelihood of households' adoption of energy and water-efficient appliances; two, households' purchase decisions are positively affected by their awareness, understanding, and trust of labelling schemes; and three, there is evidence of complementarity between energy conservation and water conservation behaviours.