Householder attitudes to water conservation measures

Evidence on the attitudes of householders towards measures to save water that can be retrofitted to existing properties.

• From: Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development Programme and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 20 February 2021

• Category: Policy, governance and funding
• Topics: Adaptation, Climate change, Community participation, Flood risk assessment, Flood risk governance, Groundwater, Hydrology, Natural capital, Spatial planning, Strategy and planning, Surface water, Sustainability
• Project status: Completed
• Project code: FD2649
• Date of completion: 31 May 2010

Documents

Water retrofit policies review: the household perspective - technical report - (3 MB) PDF

Water retrofit policies review: the household perspective - technical summary - (826 KB) PDF

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Details

Background

Following the publication of the ‘Future Water’ strategy, there was an urgent need for homeowner initiatives to support government action on water strategies. The challenge was for government to understand homeowner behaviour and attitudes better to design regulations and policies that’ll achieve the right results.

Approach

This project provided evidence on the attitudes of householders to measures to save water that can be retrofitted (fitted to existing properties rather than when building new ones). The measures saved water in three main ways:

• changing the amount of water available
• managing surface water and flood risk better
• improving water quality and / or minimising pollution

The work focused specifically on reactions to the proposed measures. It also explored responses to water measures and how people behave individually at home, as well as at a community level.

Outcome

The research revealed significant potential for water conservation retrofit options. Many participants were positive (in principle) about a range of measures. This was particularly true of rainwater harvesting, which makes sense at an intuitive level (taking advantage of a “natural” resource) as well as being considered innovative. This was also the case with water butts, which are considered cheap, easy and familiar.

In principle, reactions to grey water recycling were also positive, although much more depends on what the water is used for. For community-scale rainwater harvesting systems, concerns about the practicalities of communities sharing a resource presented an immediate barrier.

The project started in May 2010 and was completed in May 2010 at a cost of £116,640.

Published 20 February 2021