Executive summary

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.

It includes the synthesis of three pieces of existing research, bringing together recent public surveys on household water use, and identifying 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.

It also includes new qualitative research on:

• attitudes to water metering

• selecting a new washing machine

• watering the garden.

Summary of findings

There are many contradictions in New Zealanders’ attitudes and behaviours relating to their household water use.

To generalise, New Zealanders regard water as ‘precious’, but also believe it is plentiful and limitless in this country. New Zealanders have a fundamental belief that waste is bad – but they also believe they have the right to use water freely and without restriction.

Water use appears to be very personal to New Zealanders and to be part of their way of life. So while they believe that wastage is ‘bad’, they are reluctant to hear messages asking them to modify behaviours, because they see this as an intrusion into their personal life. For instance, while focus group participants understood that two-minute showers were part of a community response to water shortages, they believed that the personal freedom to have a long shower was an important aspect of being an urban New Zealander.

On the other hand, many New Zealanders have been brought up on tank water or in rural areas where water is not so plentiful, and therefore have the ability and knowledge to adapt their behaviour when there are shortages. But they view these as temporary adaptations in times of need. Many New Zealanders are frugal and believe that water should not be wasted. But there is not a perceived need to conserve water, “because it rains all the time”, and therefore water is viewed as plentiful.

Many New Zealanders do not have a sense of how much water they use, or which activities contribute most to overall household water use. And while most New Zealanders are engaging in some water-saving behaviours, this is often due to their aversion to wastefulness, rather than any environmental motivations. Habits such as turning off the tap when brushing teeth, or conservative garden watering practices, are part of people’s lifestyles and do not necessarily relate to any conscious thoughts about their water use. One-off actions, such as purchasing a new washing machine, are more likely to take water use into account than unconscious habits, but only as one of many factors considered.

Water provision is seen by some as a fundamental human right and is a highly emotive issue. Any plans therefore to introduce instruments such as household metering are viewed as a challenge to social justice and equity. A major theme evident in the research was a wariness of the motives for introducing instruments such as water metering.

Applying the research to demand management

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.

The following key principles for communicating with the public came out of the research. These are detailed in section 6: Applying the research to demand management.

• Don’t assume understanding of the need to conserve water.
• The environment is not a key motivator.
• Appeals to frugality are likely to be more successful.
• Saving money is important.
• Making one-off actions is easier than changing habits.
• Water use behaviours can be very personal.
• Show people what wastefulness looks like.
• Don’t blame residents for water problems.
• Use trusted messengers.