Financial feasibility of end-user designed rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse systems for high water use households

Rainwater harvesting is effectively mandated in several urban areas of New Zealand. To understand the costs and benefits of rainwater harvesting from an end-user perspective, semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 homeowners in northern Auckland affected by these regulations. Residents report differences in four aspects of urban rainwater infrastructure – security of supply, water quality, the learning process and financial costs – that could represent key values for public acceptance. When responses are examined from the perspective of experience that has built empirical knowledge, participants explained how their satisfaction with rainwater harvesting increased over time. We hypothesise that for those lacking experience, urban rainwater consumption is a function of empirical knowledge and has initially rising marginal utility. Regulation that recognises the costs of social learning is likely to be a more effective pathway towards maximising the social benefits associated with integrated urban water management.

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Substituting Residential Rainwater Harvesting and Greywater Reuse for Public Water Supply: Tools for Evaluating the Public Cost

10.15368/theses.2009.65 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer L Ferguson

Keyword(s):

Water Supply ◽

Rainwater Harvesting ◽

Public Water Supply ◽

The Public ◽

Greywater Reuse

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How managers can reduce household water use through communication: A field experiment

10.31234/osf.io/j5v6y ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Heather Hodges ◽

Colin Kuehl ◽

Sarah E. Anderson ◽

Phillip John Ehret ◽

Cameron Brick

Keyword(s):

Field Experiment ◽

Water Use ◽

Cost Effective ◽

High Water ◽

Single Family ◽

Residential Water Use ◽

Household Water ◽

Average Water ◽

Water District ◽

Residential Water

As populations increase and droughts intensify, water providers are using tools such as persuasive messaging to decrease residential water use. However, district-led messaging campaigns are rarely informed by psychological science, evaluated for effectiveness, or strategically disseminated. In collaboration with a water district, we report a field experiment among single-family households using persuasive messaging based on the information-motivation-behavioral skills model (IMB). We randomly assigned 10,000 households to receive different mailings and measured household water use. All messaging reduced water consumption relative to the control. On average, water use dropped 0.68 HCF (509 gallons) per household in the first month. Had all 10,000 single-family, occupied, non-agricultural residences been mailed the IMB messaging, more than 5 million gallons would have been saved in the first month. The effects declined but persisted for approximately three months and were three to six times greater in households with high water use (75th-90th percentiles) relative to average water use. These findings suggest that combining message elements from the IMB model can reduce residential water use and that targeting high-use households is particularly cost-effective.

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Using smart meters to identify social and technological impacts on residential water consumption

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2011.088 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 527-533 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Cara Beal ◽

Rodney A. Stewart ◽

Anneliese Spinks ◽

Kelly Fielding

Keyword(s):

Water Use ◽

Community Education ◽

Demand Management ◽

High Water ◽

Management Policy ◽

Smart Meters ◽

Water Users ◽

Residential Water Consumption ◽

End Use ◽

Demographic Surveys

Studies have shown that householders' perceptions of their water use are often not well matched with their actual water use. There has been less research, however, investigating whether this bias is related to specific types of end use and/or specific types of socio-demographic and socio-demographic household profiles. A high resolution smart metering study producing a detailed end use event registry as well as psycho-social and socio-demographic surveys, stock inventory audits and self-reported water diaries was completed for 250 households located in South-east Queensland, Australia. The study examined the contributions of end uses to total water use for each group identified as ‘low’, ‘medium’ or ‘high’ water users. Analyses were conducted to examine the socio-demographic variables such as income, percentage of water efficient stock, family size and composition, that characterise each self-identified water usage group. The paper concludes with a discussion of the general characteristics of groups that overestimate and underestimate their water use and how this knowledge can be used to inform demand management policy such as targeted community education programmes.

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Analysis of water use characteristics in industrial sectors in Beijing based on an input-output method

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2019.152 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 219-230

Author(s):

Siyang Hong ◽

Hongrui Wang ◽

Tao Cheng

Keyword(s):

Water Use ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Optimal Allocation ◽

Industrial Structure ◽

High Water ◽

Industrial Sector ◽

Input Output ◽

Association Index ◽

Industrial Sectors ◽

Secondary Industry

Abstract Beijing is a megalopolis with a serious water shortage that has been further exacerbated by an unreasonable industrial water structure. This article uses an input-output method to calculate the water use coefficients in each industrial sector in Beijing and analyses the water use characteristics of the various industrial sectors. Then, an industry association index that represents the influence and sensitivity of sectors is combined with the water use characteristics to readjust the industrial structure with the objectives of water conservation and sustainable economic development. The results indicate that the agricultural water use coefficient is the highest and that the coefficients are generally higher for sectors in secondary industry than for those in tertiary industry. In addition, all coefficients display a downward trend. The water use multipliers vary widely among sectors. In secondary industry during the study period, the number of high water use sectors remained stable, the number of potentially high water use sectors increased and the number of general water use sectors decreased. A comprehensive analysis of the water use characteristics and industrial structure correlations could provide a reference for the optimal allocation of water resources.

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Rainwater harvesting as an alternative for water supply in regions with high water stress

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2018.018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 1946-1955 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Miguel Ángel López Zavala ◽

Mónica José Cruz Prieto ◽

Cristina Alejandra Rojas Rojas

Keyword(s):

Water Demand ◽

Rainwater Harvesting ◽

Economic Assessment ◽

Water Source ◽

High Water ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Storage Tanks ◽

Logistics Company ◽

Current Water

Abstract In this study, the reliability of using rainwater harvesting to cover the water demand of a transportation logistics company located in Mexico City was assessed. Water consumption in facilities and buildings of the company was determined. Rainwater potentially harvestable from the roofs and maneuvering yard of the company was estimated based on a statistical analysis of the rainfall. Based on these data, potential water saving was determined. Characterization of rainwater was carried out to determine the treatment necessities for each water source. Additionally, the capacity of water storage tanks was estimated. For the selected treatment systems, an economic assessment was conducted to determine the viability of the alternative proposed. Results showed that current water demand of the company can be totally covered by using rainwater. The scenario where roof and maneuvering yard rainwater was collected and treated together resulted in being more economic than the scenarios where roof and maneuvering yard rainwater was collected and treated separately. Implementation of the rainwater harvesting system will generate important economic benefits for the company. The investment will be amortized in only 5 years and the NPV will be on the order of US$ 5,048.3, the IRR of 5.7%, and the B/I of 1.9.

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Water-use efficiency on irrigated dairy farms in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea99132 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 40 (5) ◽

pp. 643 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

D. P. Armstrong ◽

J. E. Knee ◽

P. T. Doyle ◽

K. E. Pritchard ◽

O. A. Gyles

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Milk Production ◽

Water Use ◽

Milk Fat ◽

Large Range ◽

New South ◽

Dairy Farms ◽

High Water ◽

South Wales ◽

Use Efficiency

A survey of 170 randomly selected, irrigated, dairy farms in northern Victoria and 9 in southern New South Wales was conducted to examine and benchmark the key factors influencing water-use efficiency. Water-use efficiency was defined as the amount of milk (kg milk fat plus protein) produced from pasture per megalitre of water (irrigation plus effective rainfall). Information on water-use, milk production, supplementary feeding, farm size and type, pasture management, and irrigation layout and management was collected for each farm by personal interview for the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons. The farms were ranked in the order of water-use efficiency with the average farm compared with the highest and lowest 10% of farms. The range in water-use efficiency was 25–115 kg milk fat plus protein/ML, with the highest 10% averaging 94 kg/ML and the lowest 10% averaging 35 kg/ML. The large range in water-use efficiency indicated potential for substantial improvement on many farms. The high water-use efficiency farms, when compared with the low group: (i) produced a similar amount of milk from less water (387 v. 572 ML) (P<0.05), less land (48 v. 83 ha) (P< 0.05) and a similar number of cows (152 v. 143 cows); (ii) had higher estimated pasture consumption per hectare (11.5 v. 5.5 t DM/ha) (P<0.01) and per megalitre (1.0 v. 0.5 t DM/ML) (P<0.01); (iii) had higher stocking rates (3.2 v. 1.8 cows/ha) (P<0.01); (iv) used higher rates of nitrogen fertiliser (59 v. 18 kg N/ha.year) (P<0.05) and tended to use more phosphorus fertiliser (64 v. 34 kg P/ha.year) (P<0.10); (v) used similar levels of supplementary feed (872 v. 729 kg concentrates/cow); (vi) had higher milk production per cow (396 v. 277 kg fat plus protein) (P<0.05); and (vii) directed a higher proportion of the estimated energy consumed by cows into milk production (53 v. 46%) (P<0.05). The survey data confirmed that irrigated dairy farm systems are complex and variable. For example, the amount of feed brought in from outside the milking area varied from 0 to 74% of the estimated total energy used by a milking herd. There was a large range in the level of supplement input amongst the farms in the high water-use efficiency group, and in the low water-use efficiency group. This indicates that the management of the farming system has a greater impact on the efficiency of water-use on irrigated dairy farms, than the type of system. The data from the survey provide information for individual farms, a measure of the water-use efficiency of the industry, and an indication of the quality of regional land and water resources.

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