Domestic Water Demand During Droughts in Temperate Climates: Synthesising Evidence for an Integrated Framework

Abstract

In the upcoming years, as the population is growing and ageing, as lifestyle changes create the need for more water and as fewer people live in each household, the UK water sector will have to deal with challenges in the provision of adequate water services. Unless critical action is taken, every area in the UK may face a supplydemand gap by the 2080s. Extreme weather events and variations that alter drought and flood frequency add to these pressures and there is therefore a need to develop evidence-based drought scenarios models for water management purposes. However, little evidence is available about householders' response to drought and there are few if any studies that have synthesised this evidence. In response, this paper discusses the current empirical literature on the factors driving domestic water consumption under both 'normal' and drought conditions. The paper identifies the limited availability of evidence on the many different and evolving factors affecting domestic consumption under both 'normal' and drought conditions and stresses the need for the inclusion of inter and intra household factors as well as water use practices in future demand forecasting models. The paper then presents 'Water Cultures' as an integrative modelling framework to combine the limited evidence that is available on the interactions of social norms, practices and material cultures. This enables the paper both to capture both the uncertainty and heterogeneity of individual and/or household level variation and also outline the research gaps that need to be addressed.

Challenges of Researching Showering Routines: From the Individual to the Socio-Material

“…This research is focused upon the UK context, in terms of utility governance, infrastructure, supply pressures and social drivers but the authors recognise that there is a larger literature focusing on such issues outside the UK, including [22][23][24][25][26].…”

When usage matters: time-of-use analysis of Cape Town's Day Zero drought response

“…The influence of mass media on consumers' water usage during a drought is therefore vital. It allows for improved management of the general supply and demand of water, encourages better preparedness for a future crisis, and makes it possible to set new norms for water usage after the drought (Teo et al 2013;Anderson et al 2018;Manouseli et al 2018). Consequently, an indepth understanding of how consumers adapt during a drought can help policy makers in their efforts to minimise the immediate and long-term effects of a drought.…”

Public Engagement with Drought and Water Scarcity Research

“…And, people in the UK tend to demonstrate feelings of nostalgia towards past, hot summers where positive feelings towards these events can foster perceptions that people feel safer than they really are (Howarth et al 2019 ). Moreover, the experience of drought and water restrictions in the past affects the response to restrictions in the future (Manouseli et al 2018 ). However, a drought 45 years ago is not in the memory of those born after 1976 or even those born in the years shortly before 1976.…”