Individual water consumption behavior in relation to urban residential dynamics: The Case of Qatar

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to analyze different human behavioral components and the data collected from several households regarding their water consumption to fathom public demeanor better and underscore the need for efficacious governmental strategies. To investigate this phenomenon, we mapped the human behavioral components with a view to evaluating water consumption in Qatar. These included four primary household components, namely: the socio-demographic data, behavioral water consumption, attitudes toward water conservation and environmental consciousness, and the actual water consumption. We combined this information with typical households’ socio-demographic characteristics and their monthly water consumption in each household. The results obtained demonstrated a need for behavioral interventions through awareness-raising campaigns and sensitization after the first three months to reiterate and accentuate the importance of water conservation. Furthermore, the study also demonstrated that awareness-raising campaigns alone would not decrease the water consumption rate.

KEYWORDS:

• Water consumption
• behavioral attitudes
• environmental consciousness

Acknowledgements

Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library.

This paper was made possible by NPRP grant # [NPRP10-0131-170-300] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. We also thank Dr. Adly Bedwan and Dr. Shamshad Alim &TARSHEED- KAHRAMAA, for their cooperation and provision of a detailed dataset for this study. For the proposed questionnaires, we thank Robert Jensen (Yale School of Management), Robert Metcalf (Boston University), Robert Hahn (Smith School, University of Oxford), Leonardo Bursztyn (University of Chicago) and Jesper Akesson (The Behaviourist) for revising the survey questions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In Qatar, there is excess TSE (Treated Sewage Effluent) water which is not reused; making up almost 40% of the total TSE (Treated Sewage Effluent). This is in addition to a significant quantity of Surface/GroundWater (SGW) discharging into the sea without being reused till date. The Qatar Integrated Drainage Master Plan (QIDMP) within Ashghal has been mapped out to reuse this SGW in the long-term after Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatment and incorporate it into the recycled water network. The industrial water (associated and processed) in industrial cities is not considered at the national level. It is only managed locally within the industrial cities in Qatar. Groundwater depletion and deterioration is a critical issue in Qatar. The abstraction from the Rus and Umm Er Radhuma (UER) aquifers is almost 2.5 of the safe equilibrium recharge (Shamrukh, Al-Muraikhi, and Al-Hamar 2012). Consequently, a continuous trend in depletion and deterioration is anticipated. It becomes evident that an efficient use of the water is paramount and necessary for the present and future generation.

2. It is a lengthy questionnaire, reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (QU-IRB 1108-EA/19).

3. Details of this method and its advantages over other methods can be found in: Le, T. Kien, J. M. Brick, A. Diop, D. Alemadi, 2013. ‘Within Household Sampling Conditioning on Household Size.’ International Journal of Public Opinion Research. Vol 25: 1.

4. The exchange rate is 1 $ = 3.65 QAR ‘pegged exchange rate’

5. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar (354–355 days). It is a lunar calendar and falls short by 11 days in comparison with the solar calendar (365–365 days). For example, in Qatar, Ramadan started on April 23^rd and ended on 23 May 2020. In 2021, it started on April 12^th and will end on May 11^th; for 2022 forecast, it will start on April 1^st and end on April 30^th.

6. The social distance (d_ij) between two households i and j is computed employing the following equation: $d_{i,j}=1+\left|\sum _{i,j,n=1}^n{x}_{n_i}-x_{n_j}\right|$ where, $x_{n_{i,j}}$are the social characteristics of the two linked household agents i and j. In this specific application, the variables that were employed in estimation of the social distance are age, income level, education level, nationality and religion.

7. Such scaling down is not uncommon in water utilization related agent based models. For example, Koutiva and Makropoulos (2016), created 930 household agents for the simulation of 930,000 households, and Galán, López-Paredes, and Del Olmo (2009) created 12,500 agents for the simulation of 125,000 families (scaling down ratio = 0.1).

8. The Institutional Review Board approval (QU-IRB 1108-EA/19) and the resident’s consumptions data are available on request.

9. lpd: liters per person per day

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Qatar National Research Fund [NPRP10-0131-170-300].