Water-efficient Technologies Research Articles

Regional water footprint evaluation in China: A case of Liaoning

Water-related problems are currently second only to energy issues as threats to human society. North China is a region that is facing severe water scarcity problems. In order to provide appropriate water mitigation policies a regional study is completed. Under this circumstance, Liaoning Province, a typical heavy industrial province in north China is chosen as a case study region. The input–output analysis method is employed in order to evaluate the water footprint both from production and consumption perspectives. The results show that the total water footprint of Liaoning in 2007 was 7.30billionm3, a 84.6% of internal water footprint and a 15.4% external water footprint. The water trade balance of Liaoning was 2.68billionm3, indicating that Liaoning was a net water export region, although water shortages are becoming a more serious concern. The “Agriculture” and “Food and beverage production” sectors are found to have the highest water footprint, water intensity, water exports, and water trade balance. Based upon Liaoning realities policy implications and suggestions are made, including industrial and trade structure adjustment, application of water efficient technology and management measures, and appropriate capacity-building efforts. The methodology and findings may be useful for investigation of water footprints throughout various regions of the world.

Technology Adoption for Long-Term Drought Resilience

AbstractIn this paper, a mathematical model of optimal management of prolonged and consecutive drought events is developed to evaluate circumstances under which the adoption of a water-efficient technology may offer long-term drought resilience. The decision over technology adoption and its timing is affected by the objective of surviving a certain number of consecutive droughts besides being influenced by the costs of technology and the farmer’s endowments. A key finding is that planning for surviving through a longer drought period may discourage early technology adoption among poorer farmers faced with groundwater scarcity. Compared with wealthy farmers, the tendency to conserve groundwater for the poorer farmers when the drought planning horizon is longer gets reversed with an increase in the risks of repeated droughts. At low risks, groundwater conservation increases with the drought-planning horizon, but at higher risks, groundwater is depleted faster as the drought-planning horizon increases. Techn...

Determinants of household water conservation: The role of demographic, infrastructure, behavior, and psychosocial variables

Securing water supplies in urban areas is a major challenge for policy makers, both now and into the future. This study aimed to identify the key determinants of household water use, with a view to identifying those factors that could be targeted in water demand management campaigns. Objective water use data and surveys were collected from 1008 households in four local government areas of southeast Queensland, Australia. Results showed that demographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and infrastructure variables all have a role to play in determining household water use. Consistent with past research, household occupancy was the most important predictor of water use. Households in regions recently exposed to drought conditions and higher‐level restrictions also used less water than those who had less experience with drought. The effect of water efficient technology was mixed: some water efficient appliances were associated with less water use, while others were associated with more water use. Results also demonstrated the importance of considering water use as a collective behavior that is influenced by household dynamics. Households who reported a stronger culture of water conservation used less water. These findings, along with evidence that good water‐saving habits are linked to water conservation, highlight the value of policies that support long‐term cultural shifts in the way people think about and use water.

Evaluating the energy and carbon reductions resulting from resource-efficient household stock

The nexus of water and energy and greenhouse gas emissions is now well recognised, however, quantifying the energy savings from (hot) water-efficient technologies has been largely based on modelled or assumed consumption data from water use appliances and fixtures. The aim of this paper is to determine water, energy and greenhouse gas emission savings from resource-efficient household stock using empirical water end-use data and detailed stock specifications for homes in Queensland, Australia. Hot water system type is considered with comparisons made between intervention scenarios with and without inclusion of a low energy heating system. The results confirm the significant impact that coal-fired electricity water heating has on total household energy consumption. Further, it appears that substantial savings can be achieved by substituting water (e.g. high star rating appliances) and energy (e.g. solar hot water system) efficient appliances in the home. The findings also suggest that retrofitting cheaper resource-efficient technologies are still an effective means of reducing both water and energy consumption, regardless of hot water system type. Future work in this area is needed to expand the current research outcomes, such as the consideration of all thermal losses from heating systems and the use of empirical energy end-use data.

Climate change, water security and the need for integrated policy development: the case of on-farm infrastructure investment in the Australian irrigation sector

The Australian Government is currently addressing the challenge of increasing water scarcity through significant on-farm infrastructure investment to facilitate the adoption of new water-efficient pressurized irrigation systems. However, it is highly likely that conversion to these systems will increase on-farm energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, suggesting potential conflicts in terms of mitigation and adaptation policies. This study explored the trade-offs associated with the adoption of more water efficient but energy-intensive irrigation technologies by developing an integrated assessment framework. Integrated analysis of five case studies revealed trade-offs between water security and environmental security when conversion to pressurized irrigation systems was evaluated in terms of fuel and energy-related emissions, except in cases where older hand-shift sprinkler irrigation systems were replaced. These results suggest that priority should be given, in implementing on-farm infrastructure investment policy, to replacing inefficient and energy-intensive sprinkler irrigation systems such as hand-shift and roll-line. The results indicated that associated changes in the use of agricultural machinery and agrochemicals may also be important. The findings of this study support the use of an integrated approach to avoid possible conflicts in designing national climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, both of which are being developed in Australia.

Evaluation of environmental policies targeting irrigated agriculture: The case of the Mooki catchment, Australia

An integrated biophysical and economic model is used to determine the effects of using more water efficient irrigation systems and trade in water rights on the environmental performance of irrigation enterprises in the Mooki catchment within the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia. We find that improved water use efficiency increased profit in the presence of modern irrigation technologies and water trading. Salinity risk downstream is reduced due to the fall in saline discharge from the catchment, and irrigation water is traded away from ecologically significant regions. It is important that the institutional setup gives confidence in the security of water supplies. When irrigators can be assured about the security of their water entitlements in the context of water reform policies, incentives emerge for them to invest in water efficient irrigation technologies and to participate in the water market. Environmental performance can thereby be improved without the need for financial support from the government. Further, minimal government intervention is required to address salinity; given the conjunctive nature of secondary salinity and water use it can be cost-efficient to address both environmental flow and salinity mitigation with a single policy instrument.

Passive conservation: Codifying the use of water‐efficient technologies

This article investigates how water efficiency professionals can use the code adoption process to implement increased water efficiency technologies. Beyond the US Energy Policy Act, many standards are used to codify water use efficiency throughout the United States. In Florida, for example, the International Plumbing Code is used and updated frequently through a consensus‐based process described in this article. Conservation professionals assessing how to increase water use efficiency can be integrated into the code adoption process, but few know where or how to become involved. They may also provide input by either becoming a member of a technical advisory committee or through public testimony. Standards development and code adoption processes are sometimes overlooked by conservation professionals, who can achieve passive conservation by participating in such processes.

Water Efficiency and the Professional Plumbing Sector: How Capacity and Capability Influence Knowledge Acquisition and Innovation

Professional plumbers play an essential role in the implementation of water efficiency. If North America is to achieve high water efficiency standards and more ambitious plumbing codes, plumbers will need to be actively included in the water efficiency discussion. Repositioning the industry will required a cultural shift because the plumbing community has been mostly ignored in discussions of the larger environmental agenda and priorities. This repositioning will require substantial rethinking and retraining. New knowledge will need to be transmitted about emerging water efficient technologies, public policies and practices, as well as the rationale for use in residential and Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (ICI) sectors. The GreenPlumbers Program (GPP) initiated this knowledge transfer process. Originating in Australia and expanded to the United States, the GPP is a national training and accreditation program for professional plumbers. Their focus has been on upgrading skills and awareness of water efficiency, conservation, and the professional plumbers' roles in the contemporary environmental context. In this paper we report on the efficacy of the GPP's curriculum and the process of transferring explicit water efficiency knowledge. Semi-structured interviews and a survey were used to gather the data. We considered how the program participants incorporated the GPP curriculum into their 'day-to-day' practices and operations post-certification. We also investigated partic- ipants' motivating factors and cross-referenced these findings to their overall assessment of the program. Recommendations focus on how the GPP can best influence and contribute to a more comprehensive water efficiency agenda.

AWWA's Water Conservation Division

This article presents AWWA's Water Conservation Division, including its mission, a list of the most critical needs and challenges facing the water conservation field, and a brief discussion of each of its four working committees that include: the Planning, Evaluation, and Research Committee; the Water Efficient Programs and Technology Committee; the Communication, Education, and Legislation Committee; and, the WaterWiser Advisory Committee.

An Institutional Economics Perspective: The Impact of Water Provider Privatisation on Water Conservation in England and Australia

In the context of the world-wide trend towards the privatisation of water supplies, this article uses institutional economics to examine the incentives for English and Australian water providers to implement strategies to reduce household water consumption. The authors hypothesise that the effective marketing of reduced domestic water consumption is likely to be strengthened by the extent of government control over water providers. This hypothesis is examined using a case study of ten English water companies (all privately owned and subject to identical government regulation) and ten Australian water utilities (with varying degrees of government ownership and regulation), focusing on their promotion of home retrofitting with water-efficient technology. The examination supports the hypothesis, leading to the conclusion that significant government control of water utilities is necessary to curb domestic water consumption.

DROUGHT RESILIENCE IN AGRICULTURE: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGICAL OPTIONS, LAND USE DYNAMICS, AND RISK PERCEPTION

AbstractSustained droughts coupled with increasing pressure from urbanization severely test the ability of farmers to continue in agriculture. Understanding farmers' resilience to such pressures is increasingly becoming a significant policy concern. In this paper, a new measure of resilience to severe and sustained droughts in agriculture is derived as the ability to continue farming by saving and carrying forward water through the adoption of water efficient technology. In addition, the role of behavioral factors—such as subjective risk perception over the probability of droughts, of the probability of land getting urbanized, and of resistance to revising beliefs over water scarcity situation—in determining farmers' resilience to droughts is explored. Findings highlight the key role played by behavioral factors in influencing the decision to adopt when the economic factors, such as the price of water, do not capture the true opportunity costs of water. The range of available technological options is found to be crucial too, as marginal improvements in technology do not encourage adoption. An empirical application to the case of lettuce farming in Western Australia reveals that in the presence of speculative benefits from land rezoning, technological adoption is done only for enhancing profits in agriculture and not for improving resilience to droughts. Land rezoning possibilities may further distort technology adoption decisions, thereby, reducing resilience to droughts.

NEW STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE EFFICIENT WATER USE BY NEW BUSINESSES

The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) provides approximately 225,000 acre feet of water per year to 1.3 million people and 22,000 commercial, institutional and industrial accounts near San Francisco Bay, California. As part of its aggressive demand management program, EBMUD offers business customers on-site inspections and financial assistance to convert existing water using equipment and processes to more water efficient technology. EBMUD would like to:Interact with sponsors of new commercial sites before construction begins.Employ high efficiency water use technology at the beginning of the business operation rather than retrofitting equipment at a later date.Benefit the customer by improving production output while reducing operating costs involving water, sewerage and energy.Make more effective use of EBMUD rate payer dollars. This new approach is called: WaterSmart Guidelines for New Business and includes:A guidebook describing updated water efficient technology for fourteen water using technologies employed in twenty types of business operationsTechnical requirements and recommendations regarding water efficiency for designers of new business facilitiesChecklists of water efficiency measures to be used by officials considering new applications for water service.A marketing plan to reach prospective business customers

Needs and barriers in technical regulations and standards for the efficient use of water: situation in Portugal and Brazil

Appropriate legislation, technical regulations and standards are essential to put into practice water-efficient technologies, procedures and products, both to promote the implementation and to avoid eventual barriers in the application of the adequate measures. In Portugal as in Brazil, efficient use of water and the reduction of water waste are important environmental goals. In the former, the National Program for the Efficient Use of Water for the urban, agricultural and industrial sectors is the base document for this purpose. In the latter, the National Program to Prevent the Waste of Water, for the urban sector, has been in action since 1997. The purpose of the paper is to present a brief overview of the current situation in terms of regulations and standards, highlighting the needs and some barriers, having as reference the situation in Portugal and Brazil, and the measures intended to be applied in the respective programs.

Assessing the response of chickpea ( Cicer aeritinum L.) yield to irrigation water on two soils in Punjab (India): A simulation analysis using the CROPMAN model

Shrinking water resources in northwest India calls for diversification from a rice–wheat cropping system to low-water-requiring crops and development of water-efficient technologies in Punjab state. Chickpea, because of its lower water demand (evapotranspiration) and irrigation requirement has been identified as a suitable alternate crop to wheat. Simulations, averaged over 18 years, using the CROPMAN model indicated that the yield of chickpea on coarse- to medium-textured soils was higher in a rice–chickpea cropping system compared with maize–chickpea and mung–chickpea systems because of increased availability of water. Yield response of chickpea to irrigation depended upon soil texture, the timings and number of irrigations. The optimum yield (2 t ha −1) on coarse- to medium-textured soils after rice can be obtained with one heavy pre-plant and two post-plant irrigations, i.e., one in mid-February and one in mid-March synchronizing irrigations with flowering and grain development stages. Grain yield with irrigation water followed a quadratic function and linear with evapotranspiration. Water use efficiency and evapotranspiration was curvilinear. Grain yield was significantly sensitive to water stress during the pod setting to grain development period irrespective of soil texture.

Handbook of Water Use and Conservation

Review: Handbook of Water Use and Conservation By Amy Vickers Reviewed by Russell A. Cohen Massachusetts Department of Fisheries, USA Amy Vickers. Handbook of Water Use and Conservation. Amherst, MA: WaterPlow Press, 2001. 446 pp. ISBN 1-931579-07-5 (hardcover). US$99.95. Recycled paper. paper. 'Water is our most precious resource' is a refrain expressed by many-from engineers and poets to politicians-yet humanity's actions have often belied those words. Amidst the world's growing population and increasing demand for more water, many regions around the globe are facing the hard realities of groundwater depletion, chronic drought, dried-up rivers, poor water quality, mounting infrastructure costs, and diminishing alternatives for additional supplies. As we peer into the 21st century, water conservation is looking far more like an imperative than an option (p. xv). So begins Amy Vickers' Handbook of Water Use and Conservation, to date the most authoritative, encyclopedic reference work available on this subject. The Handbook contains detailed descriptions of hundreds of water-efficiency technologies and practices for all customer groups-residential, landscape, industrial, commercial, institutional, and agricultural. Vickers backs up her claim that water conservation represents The Great Untapped Water Supply (p. xv) by presenting hundreds of proven water efficiency measures that reduce and control both short-term water demand (such as during drought and peak conditions) as well as long-term demand for each type of customer. Potential water savings and related costs are provided too, so you can know which measures will provide the best benefit/cost ratio for any type of customer. Vickers points out that many, if not most, water conservation measures have a relatively short payback time, often two years or less. As someone from a densely populated state where profligate household water use increasingly threatens the natural integrity of our streams and other hydric ecosystems, I found the Handbook's sections on domestic water use (and abuse) particularly valuable. Here's a brief example: The American obsession with lawns and lawn care products has come under scrutiny in recent years because of concerns about wasted water and the burdens of time, cost, and pollution that a well-manicured green lawn exacts from its owner and the natural environment (p.145). Vickers points out that lawn watering represents one of the biggest non-essential uses of water in many communities as well as the fact that keeping a lawn green with no brown spots during midsummer is often a costly, losing battle, even with regular

Multiobjective Analysis of Market Transformation Strategies

The objective of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Volume Purchase Program is to work with utilities to market emerging energy and water efficient technologies. Using a volume purchase strategy, the Department of Energy wants to transform the U.S. market for new, energy and water efficient clothes washers to increase and hasten market acceptance of these appliances. This paper describes how multiobjective decision analysis is used to evaluate market transformation strategies for high-efficiency clothes washers. The three alternatives being considered are (1) volume purchases; (2) utility rebates; and (3) no incentives. A Hill’s goals-achievement matrix methodology is used to analyze the ability of each alternative to meet the goals of environmental and energy conservation and economic improvement. The differing viewpoints of the consumer, utility, appliance manufacturer, and U.S. government are considered in the evaluation. The results of the analysis show that the volume purchase option is marginally superior to the utility rebate option. The option to offer no incentives is a significantly inferior alternative to the other proposed alternatives.

Demand management and water efficiency

Water efficiency advanced in the 1990s The 1990s brought major advances in water efficiency technologies, practices, programs, and research. Progressive water utilities in Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.; and Albuquerque, N.M., reduced their total water demand by more than 20 percent in a matter of years. Albuquerque has cut total water use by 24 percent since 1995 and is working toward a 30 percent reduction by 2005.

Institutional, Managerial and Technological Innovation in Latin American Irrigation: Relevance to Global Irrigation Improvement

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the innovations in irrigation that several countries in Latin Am erica are developing in water rights and markets, irrigation management turnover, water efficient technologies and user-based performance assessment. The paper presents a brief overview of irrigation in Latin America, describes some of the em erging irrigation innovations in detail, examines the broad implications of these developments, outlines a framework for analysing irrigation innovations in Latin America and presents some tentative conclusions.

On Patents, R & D, and the Stock Market Rate of Return

Empirical work on the causes and effects of inventive activity has had difficulty in finding measures that can indicate when and where changes in either inventive inputs or inventive output have occurred. The recent computerization of the U.S. Patent Office's data base may prove helpful in this context, but there is the problem that a priori we do not know the relationships between patent applications and economically meaningful measures of these inputs and outputs. To help solve this problem, this paper investigates the dynamic relationships among the number of successful patent applications of firms, a measure of the firm's investment in inventive activity (its R & D expenditures), and an indicator of its inventive output (the stock market value of the firm). (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)