Identifying determinants of sustainable water management at the household level through rainwater harvesting systems in Nepal

Abstract

The urban water supply systems around the world are highly stressed at present due to growing water demand caused by rapid population growth and unplanned urbanization. The growing environmental awareness and water supply restrictions have made, rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS) a priority as well as a necessity in many countries. To improve urban water security, the practice of an RWHS is increasingly being adopted in the cities and towns of developing countries. This study aims at identifying the factors affecting the adoption of rainwater harvesting for household uses in the Kathmandu valley (KV) of Nepal. The results were drawn from a survey of 405 respondents who reside in the KV. To explain the determinants of adaptation, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used. Results show that independence for water access and system sophistication are significant for the adaptation of RWHS and relative advantage plays a moderating role that has partial mediation among dependent and independent variables with a significant relationship. Thus, variables like independence for water access, system sophistication, relative advantage and sustainable use should be highlighted for a sustainable supply of water. For this, we recommend effective policy interventions at the local and national level for the adoption of RWHS and its advantages in terms of safeguarding water in the long run at the present changing climate scenario.

Decision support system for community managed rainwater harvesting: A case study in the salinity-prone coastal region of Bangladesh

“…some beneficiaries may fulfill the water demand from household rainwater harvesters and rainfed ponds in the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. Additionally, the operation cost and availability of other technologies (i.e., tube wells, pond-based slow sand filtration, and ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis plants) have an impact on the rainwater demand and long-term performance [ 83 ]. As the studied RWH systems were implemented under the piloting phase of the GCA project, the longest period of operation is one and a half years among the studied RWH systems.…”

“…Furthermore, weak governance and regulation often hinder the establishment of effective institutional structures and tariff modalities [ 79 ]. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate socio-economic and GIS-based parameters along with engineering and meteorological parameters for evaluating the performance of RWH systems, especially in the least developed/developing countries [ [80] , [81] , [82] , [83] ]. To address these issues, a comprehensive assessment methodology for assessing the large-scale adaptation of community managed RWH systems is crucial for informed decision-making and policy development for sustainable water management in the water-scarce southwestern coastal Bangladesh.…”