Application of educational, behavioral, and engineering strategies for promoting residential water conservation

Abstract

The present study was designed to systematically evaluate three strategies for promoting residential water conservation. Participants were residents of 127 individually metered townhouses in Blacksburg, Virginia. An educational strategy involved the presentation of an information handbook describing specific water-saving behaviors. A behavioral strategy involved the presentation of daily and weekly feedback regarding water use. An engineering strategy involved installing four types of water-saving devices (i.e., aerators, toilet dams, shower flow limiters, and shower shut-off valves). These strategies were evaluated in a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design consisting of 2 educational strategies (information handbook vs. no information handbook) x 2 behavioral. strategies (feedback vs. no feedback) x 2 engineering strategies (devices vs. no devices) x 2 phases (baseline vs. treatment). Water consumption of the 127 participating residences was monitored daily for 5 weeks of baseline and 5 weeks of treatment. Results indicated a significant main effect of phase and a significant device x phases interaction. Participants who had water-saving devices installed reduced mean daily water consumption by 17 gallons, while participants not receiving devices averaged on a four gallon reduction. A follow-up investigation revealed that 48% of the residents who were given the water-saving devices after the project period had actually installed at least one of the devices.