Reclaimed water and food production: Cautionary tales from consumer research

Abstract

Reclaimed water has been identified as a viable and cost-effective solution to water shortages impacting agricultural production. However, lack of consumer acceptance for foods irrigated with reclaimed water remains one of the greatest hurdles for widespread farm-level adoption. Using survey data from 540 adults in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., this paper examines consumer preferences for six sources of reclaimed irrigation water and identifies statistically significant relationships between consumers' demographic characteristics and their preferences for each type of reclaimed water. Key findings suggest that consumers prefer rain water to all other sources of reclaimed water. Women are less likely than men to prefer reclaimed irrigation water sources and are particularly concerned about the use of black and brackish water. Consumers who had heard about reclaimed water before are more likely to accept its use. Drawing on evidence from survey and experimental research, this paper also identifies disgust, neophobia and health concerns as the key issues that lead consumers to accept or reject foods produced with reclaimed water. Finally, we identify avenues for future research into public acceptance of reclaimed water based on our analysis and evidence from prior research.

Does food processing mitigate consumers’ concerns about crops grown with recycled water?

“…Several studies have found that income and gender (Menegaki et al, 2007;Dolnicar et al, 2010) can influence acceptance of recycled water. Women were found to be less likely than men to prefer recycled water (Dolnicar and Schäfer, 2009;Rock et al, 2012;Savchenko et al, 2018b). The lack of consistency in the findings of these studies makes it difficult to draw conclusions.…”

“…4 methods. Most prior studies of consumers' responses to recycled water have relied on survey methodologies (Fielding et al, 2018;Savchenko et al, 2018b). Those studies showed that most consumers are concerned about recycled irrigation water used on edible crops (Po et al, 2005;Menegaki et al, 2007;Rock et al, 2012) and found that providing consumers with information about recycled water can increase their acceptance of its use (Hills et al, 2002;Hurlimann, 2007;Dolnicar et al, 2010;Fielding and Roiko, 2014;Simpson and Stratton, 2011;Hui and Cain, 2017).…”

“…Ellis et al, (2018) also showed that the use of recycled water decreased consumers' demand for food products by 87% in the U.S. and that this reduction was dependent upon the type of recycled water used (recycled gray, recycled black and recycled produced). Disgust, safety concerns and neophobia were identified as the three primary drivers of consumers' acceptance or rejection of recycled water (Savchenko et al, 2018b). These three factors can lead to stigmatization of recycled water and foods produced with this water.…”

What's in a name? Branding reclaimed water

“…Reclaimed water is often presented as a cost-effective, reliable, and safe solution to increasingly common water shortages in the United States and around the world (Chen et al 2013). However, numerous studies have shown that reclaimed water is often rejected by consumers (Menegaki, Hanley, and Tsagarakis 2007;Bakopoulou et al 2008;Menegaki et al 2009;Hui and Cain 2017;Ellis et al 2017) because it invokes feelings of disgust (a "yuck" factor) related to wastewater, driving them to oppose its use (Fielding, Dolnicar, and Schultz 2018;Savchenko et al 2018a).…”

Effect of Cognitive Variables and Emotional Variables on Urban Residents’ Recycled Water Reuse Behavior

“…Although sewage treatment technology is more and more advanced and the quality standard of recycled water is higher, there are still many urban residents who refuse to use recycled water [5]. Many scholars have studied this issue from different perspectives [6][7][8]. Some scholars have found that technology is not the biggest obstacle for the promotion and popularization of recycled water, but the resistance and rejection of urban residents towards the use of recycled water [9][10][11].…”