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Executive summary

Introduction

Attitudes to water

Population segmentations

Behaviours

Barriers and incentives to action

Applying the research to demand management

References

Appendix 1: Attitudes to household water metering

Appendix 2: Selecting a new washing machine

Appendix 3: Watering the garden

1. Introduction

As demand for fresh water increases, demand management strategies are becoming increasingly important. The benefits of water demand management include cost savings through deferring the need for investment in new infrastructure, savings in the treatment and supply of water to households, and savings in wastewater management through reduced flows.¹

There are a range of possible approaches to water demand management, including but not limited to (Lawton et al, 2008):

• water loss control and asset maintenance

• water-efficient technologies

• regulation

• non-regulatory policy (eg, education and outreach)

• economic instruments.

Because the introduction of demand management interventions is likely to impact on households, an understanding of public attitudes, behaviours, and perceptions of household water use is important for successfully communicating with the public.

This report summarises research on household water use, with the purpose of informing demand management strategies and enabling successful communication with the public. It focuses on household water use from the householders’ perspective, presenting existing and new consumer research on attitudes to water, population segmentations, behaviours, and barriers and incentives to action.

1.1 Methodology for developing this report

This report was developed to summarise research on household water use in New Zealand, to make it more accessible to those developing policy. This should save councils and other organisations from duplicating research projects with similar objectives, but also provides a basis for more targeted local research if required. It includes the synthesis of three pieces of existing research, combined with new qualitative research on three specific topics of significance.

The synthesis of existing research makes up the core of this report, covering attitudes to water, population segmentations, behaviours, and barriers and incentives to action. The synthesis was developed primarily to bring together recent public surveys on household water use, and to identify common themes. The existing research was conducted independently in Auckland, for Watercare Services; Wellington, for Greater Wellington Regional Council; and at a national level for the Ministry for the Environment.

Each of these existing pieces of research covered a range of topics; however, the information selected for inclusion in this report has been limited in scope to:

• research on households

• attitudes and behaviours with regard to water, rather than other environmental issues (the exception to this is in section 3: Population segmentations – in some instances general environmental attitudes were used in developing the segmentations, so these are included where relevant)

• water demand rather than supply issues.

The details and methodologies of each of these existing pieces of research are detailed in section 1.2: Existing research: methodologies.

As well as synthesising existing research, this report also includes the findings of new qualitative research conducted on specific topics of significance. Each of these topics looks at a different approach to demand management:

• water metering (economic instruments)

• selecting a new washing machine (water-efficient technologies)

• watering the garden (non-regulatory policy: education and outreach).

The selected topics are priority areas, where the potential impact on household water demand is relatively high and there was a need for new consumer research. The rationale for focusing on each of these topics is set out below, and the methodology is covered in section 1.3: New research: methodology.

Water metering

Water metering and volumetric charging is a common demand management approach to incentivise households to conserve water. In non-metered areas that have been surveyed, there is generally strong public opposition to, or misconceptions about, household water metering. The objective of this research was to help to understand public opinion in greater depth. This understanding will be valuable for any authorities wishing to consider metering as a demand management option in the future.

Selecting a new washing machine

The purpose of this research was to provide a greater understanding of the channels of influence relating to appliance purchasing decisions, to help in targeting the promotion of water-efficient technologies such as washing machines.

Rather than looking at appliances generally, this research focused specifically on washing machines for the following reasons:

• washing machines are the second-largest indoor use of water following showers, typically accounting for 27 per cent of indoor water use (Heinrich, 2008)²

• washing machines are among the more common, and more regularly purchased, water-using household appliances, with most households having one.

Watering the garden

While outdoor water use varies between households, it can account for about 18 per cent of all household water use during summer. ‘Outdoor use’ includes uses such as irrigation, car washing, topping up swimming pools, and cleaning; however, garden irrigation is the main outdoor use (Heinrich, 2008).

Garden watering can have a significant effect on water demand at peak times. A key objective of the qualitative research was to gain an understanding of garden watering behaviour, particularly about attitudes around wasteful watering and how decisions are made about how frequently to water, which can be used to inform communications and interventions, particularly for local government.

1.2 Existing research: methodologies

The following existing research is synthesised in this report:

• the Ministry for the Environment’s Household Sustainability Survey 2008 (Johnson et al, 2008)

• Watercare Services’ Project Oracle: Water Usage and Conservation Across the Auckland Region (TNS Conversa, unpublished)

• Greater Wellington Regional Council’s Researching Public Opinion on Water Supply for Greater Wellington (UMR Research, unpublished).

The methodologies for each of these surveys are detailed below.

Household Sustainability Survey 2008

The Household Sustainability Survey 2008 was conducted for the Ministry for the Environment by Research New Zealand in September 2008. It involved a quantitative telephone survey of 1000 respondents, representative of the New Zealand population. Topics within the survey included: using water efficiently; organic waste reduction; managing electrical waste; energy efficiency; transportation; building and renovating sustainably; and taking sustainability into account for purchasing decisions. The survey design was based on the Survey of Public Attitudes and Behaviours Toward the Environment 2007, by the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The Household Sustainability Survey 2008 provided a ‘snapshot’ of New Zealanders’ attitudes and behaviours with regard to being environmentally sustainable. It also updated the results of the Ministry for the Environment’s Household Sustainability Benchmark Survey, which was completed in November 2007.

While it covered a range of subjects, only the water-related attitudes and behaviours, and the population segmentation, are covered in this synthesis.

Project Oracle: Water Usage and Conservation Across the Auckland Region

Project Oracle: Water Usage and Conservation Across the Auckland Region was a qualitative and quantitative survey on water in the Auckland metropolitan area (Auckland, North Shore, Waitakere, and Manukau cities, and Papakura district)³. It was conducted by TNS Conversa for Watercare Services. The study was undertaken to review attitudes to water conservation and usage, to guide the development of strategies to fund and/or delay significant future infrastructural investment.

It had several respondent groups: households, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and major water users. For households, a quantitative survey of 1251 Auckland households was conducted in September–October 2007, and the qualitative research involved six focus groups held in November 2007.

The research with major water users and SMEs is outside of the scope of this synthesis.

Researching Public Opinion on Water Supply for Greater Wellington

Greater Wellington Regional Council’s Researching Public Opinion on Water Supply for Greater Wellington was conducted by UMR Research and completed in December 2007. It involved a qualitative and quantitative study of Greater Wellington residents.

Fourteen mini-groups were used for the qualitative research, with 71 participants in total. To explore the views of a wide range of demographics, specifications were set for the mini–groups, which included demographic and geographic categories.

The findings of the qualitative research informed the design of the quantitative survey, which involved a telephone survey of 500 respondents. Quotas were set for respondents in Porirua (100), Upper Hutt (100), Hutt city (130), and Wellington (170).

Topics of the research included perceptions about availability and the value of water, attitudes and behaviours in relation to conserving water, and water management options. Attitudes, perceptions and behaviours relating to household water use, including the population segmentation, are covered in this synthesis; supply augmentation issues are outside of the scope.

1.3 New research: methodology

This report also includes the findings of new qualitative research conducted on three specific topics of significance (water metering, selecting a new washing machine, and watering the garden).

This qualitative research involved five focus groups which were undertaken between 4 and 11 May 2009 in Auckland and Wellington. The research was conducted by Judy Oakden Consultancy for the Ministry for the Environment.

Each of the five groups focused primarily on one of the three topic areas, although water metering was also discussed briefly in the groups on the other topics. Selecting a new washing machine and watering the garden were covered first, in groups in both Auckland and Wellington, with the final half hour of each of these meetings spent discussing water metering. Finally, a group focusing exclusively on water metering was undertaken in Wellington (see table 1).

This approach provided some insight into the differences in water metering perspectives of those from Auckland (where all households are metered for water use) and those from Wellington (where most households are not metered).

All focus group participants were on town water supply. Participants for the ‘new washing machine’ and ‘garden watering’ groups were identified as being in the ‘Waste Watchers’ population segment⁴ (the key target audience for these interventions), while participants for the ‘water metering’ group represented the broader general public. Participants were selected for the relevant focus groups on the basis of having recently purchased a washing machine⁵, or being someone who regularly waters their garden⁶. Loose quotas were set to ensure there was a mix of ages, gender and ethnic groups included in the study. The focus group composition is shown in table 1.

Table 1: Focus group composition (new qualitative research)

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