Interventions towards water conservation in cities

Abstract

A large number of cities around the world are facing increasing water scarcity (World Bank, 2016). Rapid urbanization and rise in economic prosperity have brought water conservation on the policy agenda (Hoque, 2014). With unequal distribution of water, much like wealth or income, those with more than adequate supply of water can be encouraged to reduce water usage. Water conservation efforts have taken many forms including structural changes on the user-side, such as change to lower-flow taps and showers, and behavioural changes, such as education and awareness campaigns exhorting users to reduce waste and form water-conserving habits (Water Research Foundation, 2016). On an average, structural changes have produced some results whereas behavioural-intervention based changes have been mixed and more nuanced, especially in the long-term. Behavioural interventions require more research to understand them better, especially given their growing and problematic use by policy-makers.