Qualitative exploration of beliefs, values and knowledge associated with decentralised water supplies in South East Queensland communities

[摘要] The purpose of this study was to explore the general beliefs, values and knowledge associated with decentralised water supply systems among residents in South East Queensland (SEQ), who were using decentralised systems in their home, as well as residents who were not. Three Greenfield developments in key SEQ locations in were selected for participant recruitment, namely Locations A, B and C, because these developments mandated individual water tanks as primary and/or supplementary water sources. Households in the Non-user group were selected from surrounding suburbs of the three respective developments; these participants did not have any type of decentralised system installed in their homes. Analyses of the data included identifying and extracting recurrent themes and sub-themes within the interview text, to gain an understanding of participants¿ beliefs regarding tank water and greywater systems, the existing level of knowledge among both Users and Non-users of decentralised water systems, as well as personal and social values attributed to decentralised water supplies. Respondents from the User group in all three locations stated that property location issues, such as locality, outlook and orientation, were dominant factors for choosing to live in their current homes. Environmental benefits associated with using decentralised water were of secondary importance. Users cited many advantages of decentralised water, the primary advantage being the superior quality of drinking water produced from the rainwater tanks, which was perceived to be free of chemicals such as chlorine and fluoride, unlike council water. A number of concerns and improvements were also highlighted. Vicarious experiences of decentralised systems, observed by Non-users, were positive, possibly explaining why the present data highlighted such high acceptance for decentralised systems among Non-users.However, there was consistent doubt among Non-users with regards to the ability of decentralised systems to adequately treat the water for potable applications. The results highlight a number of important considerations for moving forward with this research.

[发布日期] 2010-10-28 [发布机构] CSIRO

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)