Establishment of determinants to influence community acceptance towards water reuse in India

Abstract

Worldwide, rising water scarcity calls for alternatives to supplement the water supplies. Water reuse is an emerging source, ensuring water safety and environmental sustainability, but its growth is hindered due to sparse public acceptance. In this study, a social survey was conducted to identify and assess the factors affecting community intention towards water reuse in some of the major cities of India. The extended theory of planned behaviour was applied to identify peoples’ behaviour. The factors were assessed using statistical analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM). The empirical results show that attitude, intention, trust in government authorities, environmental mindfulness, etc. are pivotal in influencing the perception of a community. There is a strong correlation of 0.58 between attitude and intention, indicating the interdependency of the factors. There is a weak correlation of 0.05 between awareness about the concept of water reuse and intention to reuse suggesting no relation between the two. The results indicate that there is strong public support for water reuse but there is a need for incorporating public awareness and consultation programmes in policy development. The study has established correlation between cognitive and emotional factors which should be beneficial for developing a holistic framework for implementing reuse schemes.