Effektiv minskning av vattenanvändning i hushåll

• Effective decrease of water use in households This is the final report of a preparatory project which has aimed to identify and characterize methods which can be used to achieve a reduced usage of water for households in Sweden. This is so that the methods that give the most effect can be implemented. The project has also aimed to produce conditions for an implementation project so that methods can be tested and evaluated in a practical manner. The project’s long term goal is to create a system transfer and to reduce the water usage in Swedish households from 140 to 100 liters per person and per day. Getting individuals to change their behavior and reduce their water use is complex as several factors affect their water use today and the conditions for reducing water use. Several studies have reported differences between households with the highest and lowest consumption of water by a factor of four. The individual differences in water use per person can be equally as large. The variations in water use can be explained by several factors, such as the size of household, type of residence and the efficiency of the appliances. Besides these factors, there are also large variations in water related behaviors such as routines for showering and doing dishes. To identify methods with potential to make water use for households in Sweden more efficient, an oversight of projects, initiatives and previous research have been carried out with focus towards: • Decreased water usage on a national level • Decreased water usage on an international level • Decreased energy and water consumption through behavior change • Changes in behavior for citizens with regards to a sustainable usage of resources This analysis has landed in four methods to affect the households water use, which are: • Policy and legislation • Financial incentives • Communication • Technical solutions There is limited experience regarding the water saving potential that the different methods, and combinations of them, have in Sweden. The study shows that the method which is mainly used in Sweden is different forms of communication, even though communication seemingly has a limited effect. International studies show that water saving measures, such as water effective techniques and requirements for measuring water consumption, lead to a good outcome. For future studies we suggest that communication is combined with other methods and that more innovative methods are tested in situations that are as close to realistic situations as possible. This is important to understand what the effects will be in practice, and what the consequences will be for other important implementation parameters such as for example cost of implementation and environmental sustainability. We also see an obstacle in the lack of data that show the water use in households. In this project we have created conditions to test and evaluate solutions by using a digital water gauge with a high level of collection frequency. The water gauge is installed in a chosen villa area in the municipality of Kungsbacka.

Nyckelord

Household water use

water scarcity

behavior change

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

rap (ämneskategori)