Key dimensions of public acceptance for managed aquifer recharge of urban stormwater

Mankad, Aditi; Walton, Andrea; Alexander, Kim

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.11.028

Cited by 40 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…This finding is consistent with other research that has also shown that support for science and trust in government agencies to deliver a safe water supply have emerged as significant predictors of recycled water acceptance (Po et al 2003;Nancarrow et al 2009;Ross et al 2014) and stormwater acceptance (Mankad et al 2015). The current research shows that generalized feelings of trust in science and government are related to comfort with potable alternative water sources, a finding that accords generally with the risk literature (Eiser et al 2002;Siegrist et al 2007a, b).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…For desalination schemes in Australia, 90 % agreed or strongly agreed that they felt comfortable using desalinated water for distant use whereas 77 % felt safe to use it for close purposes (King et al 2012). Similarly, acceptance of stormwater for outdoor irrigation is relatively high but support drops for uses that involve closer personal contact (Hwang et al 2006;Wu et al 2012;Leonard et al 2015a;Mankad et al 2015). For example, in a study by Leonard et al (2015a) examining public perceptions of stormwater reuse through managed aquifer recharge in South Australia, 73 % supported the use of stormwater reuse for non-potable use but support dropped to 57/55 % for direct and indirect potable schemes respectively.…”

Section: Past Research On Public Perceptions Of Alternative Water Soumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Negative emotion (i.e., it would bother respondents to drink it) was a significant negative predictor. In their qualitative study of stormwater reuse, Mankad et al (2015) identified a number of dimensions that were related to stormwater reuse acceptance, some that overlap with the quantitative study of stormwater reuse acceptance described above. Trust in the technology and scientific information was a key dimension, along with consideration of future water security, and quality of the water.…”

Section: Predictors Of Perceptions Of Alternative Water Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, comfort relates to the emotions people feel in relation to risk objects and such emotions have been identified as an important influence on risk and acceptance judgments (Lowenstein et al 2001;Slovic et al 2004). In relation to the choice of psychological variables, trust in science and government and environmental attitudes have been linked to acceptance of specific alternative water sources (Leonard et al 2015a, b;Mankad et al 2015;Nancarrow et al 2008;Po et al 2003), and past research has shown a link between political ideology/worldviews and risk perceptions relating to technology and environmental issues (Kahan et al 2009(Kahan et al , 2011Dunlap et al 2001).…”

Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Comparing Public Perceptions of Alternative Water Sources for Potable Use: The Case of Rainwater, Stormwater, Desalinated Water, and Recycled Water

Fielding

Gardner

Leviston

et al. 2015

Water Resour Manage

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This research investigated how people's perceptions of alternative water sources compare with their perceptions of other technologies, and identified significant predictors of comfort with different alternative water sources. We drew on data from four questionnaire survey studies with a total sample of more than 1200 Australian participants. Relative levels of comfort with the alternative water sources was consistent across the four studies: comfort was always highest for drinking rainwater and lowest for drinking recycled water, with comfort with drinking treated stormwater and desalinated water sitting between these two. Although comfort with drinking recycled water was always lowest of the four alternative water sources, participants were significantly more comfortable with drinking recycled water than they were with nuclear energy, or with using genetically modified plants and animals for food. In general, demographic variables were less important predictors of comfort with alternative water sources than were psychological variables; only age and gender emerged as relatively consistent predictors for recycled water, stormwater, and desalinated water, with older participants and males more comfortable with drinking these water sources. Of the psychological variables, participants' comfort with technology in general, trust in science and trust in government emerged consistently as significant positive predictors of comfort with drinking recycled water, stormwater, and desalinated water.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Past Research On Public Perceptions Of Alternative Water Soumentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Predictors Of Perceptions Of Alternative Water Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Comparing Public Perceptions of Alternative Water Sources for Potable Use: The Case of Rainwater, Stormwater, Desalinated Water, and Recycled Water

Fielding

Gardner

Leviston

et al. 2015

Water Resour Manage

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While caution needs to be adopted in the interpretation of these results due to the small sample size of regulatory participants (n = 6), the survey Equity of access was rated as low likelihood/low impact, which may suggest that residential recycled water scheme practitioners do not believe that the equitable provision of recycled water services is as important as other risk factors. Although this may not be a significant factor at present, there is potential for equity of access to be desired by the community (Mankad et al 2015), whose opinions are not represented in this study, and required by the government in the future (Productivity Commission 2014). Reid (2012) suggests that maintaining social justice will aid in mitigating the impact of the politicisation of public sector decision-making, of which rights, equity, participation and access to government services comprise social justice.…”

Section: Risks To the Long-term Viability Of Residential Recycled Watmentioning

confidence: 95%

Integrated project risk management for residential recycled water schemes

West¹

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In Australia, recycled water schemes have been implemented in residential developments to contribute to sustainable urban development, enhance water supply security and reduce pollutant discharges to the environment. However, a proportion of schemes have been delayed in commissioning, placed on stand-by or prematurely decommissioned well before the end of the scheme design life. Subsequently, the Australian Productivity Commission has questioned the robustness of the project assessment and decision-making practices adopted by the urban water sector.Despite considerable research on recycled water schemes, few attempts have been made to characterise the complex array of risks to the long-term viability of schemes or to define critical risk factors for which targeted management measures may be developed. To date, the risk assessment and management practices for recycled water schemes have pertained to environmental and public health risk only, with limited attention provided to the broader array of project risks. Consequently, the overarching aim of this thesis is to establish an integrated project assessment framework which incorporates critical risks to the long-term viability of residential recycled water schemes in an integrated manner.The study was based on a pragmatist philosophical foundation where practical outcomes and real effects were considered vital components of the research. A mixed method design was applied, where qualitative and quantitative methods were used to enable complementary and convergent research findings. The nature of the risk knowledge being sought was the construction of critical risk factors, with recognition that these constructions are subject to on-going revision as contextual conditions change.Through a case-study analysis of 21 residential recycled water schemes in Australia, 34 risk factors arising from six sources -physical, social, political and regulatory, implementation and operation, financial and economic and legal and contractual -were identified and characterised. The critical risks to the long-term viability of residential recycled water schemes, based on historical occurrence, comprised: unanticipated operational costs, legal and contractual arrangements, regulatory requirements and approval process and customer complaints and customer expectations not met. Despite continued concern pertaining to the public health risk of recycled water, the research findings concluded that public health impacts have been low to date.A national survey, developed on the basis of the defined risk factors, enabled the collection of complementary data to refine and verify the critical risk factors. At present, the ii inability to demonstrate an incontestable business case is posing a significant risk to the long-term viability of residential recycled water schemes. Political, regulatory, organisational and financial factors were also rated as critical risks, in addition to community risk perception and fall in demand. The survey results shed further light on the regulatory environ...

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Accepting managed aquifer recharge of urban storm water reuse: The role of policy‐related factors

Mankad

Walton

2015

Water Resources Research

Self Cite

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A between-groups experimental design examined public acceptance for managed aquifer recharge of storm water for indirect potable and nonpotable reuse; acceptance was based on five policyrelated variables (fairness, effectiveness, trust, importance of safety assurances, and importance of communication activities). Results showed that public acceptance (N 5 408) for managed aquifer recharge of storm water was higher for nonpotable applications, as was the importance of safety assurances. Analyses of variance also showed that perceptions of fairness and effectiveness were higher for a nonpotable scheme, but not trust. A three-step hierarchical regression (Step 1: age, gender, education, and income;Step 2: type of use;Step 3: fairness, effectiveness, trust, safety assurance, and communication activities) demonstrated that type of storm water use and the policy-related factors accounted for 73% of the variance in acceptance of storm water (R 2 5 0.74, adjusted R 2 5 0.74, F (10, 397) 5 113.919, p < 0.001). Age, type of use, and three of the five policy-related factors were also significant individual predictors of acceptance. The most important predictors were perceptions of trust in water authorities, perceptions of effectiveness, and perceptions of fairness. Interestingly, while safety assurance was important in attitudinal acceptance of managed aquifer recharge based on type of use, safety assurance was not found to be significant predictor of acceptance. This research suggests that policy-makers should look to address matters of greater public importance and drive such as fairness, trust, and effectiveness of storm water programs and advocate these at the forefront of their policies, rather than solely on education campaigns.

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Key dimensions of public acceptance for managed aquifer recharge of urban stormwater

Cited by 40 publications

References 33 publications

Comparing Public Perceptions of Alternative Water Sources for Potable Use: The Case of Rainwater, Stormwater, Desalinated Water, and Recycled Water

Comparing Public Perceptions of Alternative Water Sources for Potable Use: The Case of Rainwater, Stormwater, Desalinated Water, and Recycled Water

Integrated project risk management for residential recycled water schemes

Accepting managed aquifer recharge of urban storm water reuse: The role of policy‐related factors

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