ANNOUNCEMENTS
Global water demand is expected to exceed supply by more than 50% by 2025, the disparity being due mainly to the disproportionate use of water for farming, excessive withdrawal of groundwater, and urbanization. Cities are therefore at the forefront of the efforts to reduce water scarcity. Two factors have triggered the increasing demand for water in cities, namely (1) the rapid increase in population as a result of both natural growth and migration from rural areas and (2) limited physical resources constrained by many competing demands. Cities are therefore exploring different ways to find water, including transporting it from distant places; however, those places too now face increasing water scarcity over time. Most interstate agreements about sharing water have proved contentious: nearly all the states in India have ongoing disputes over water with their neighbouring states. Cities will be unable to achieve sustainability until the conflicting demands of economic growth, environmental quality, and better living standards are balanced. Because per capita incomes in cities are high, they need to take the lead in sustainable development, and any sustainable solutions related to water hinge on recycling, reusing, and reclaiming wastewater.
Using reclaimed water (RW) as potable water is not a new initiative—Australia, Namibia, Singapore, and some states in USA (California, New Mexico, and Virginia) are already doing so. However, despite the proven technologies and assured safety, acceptance of RW for drinking by the public is fraught with difficulties, mainly because of perceived risks associated with such use. It is therefore becoming increasingly important that public perception be explicitly considered while designing strategies to overcome water scarcity and to shape water-related policies. It becomes essential for the developing countries such as India, which are yet to invest substantially in wastewater infrastructure, to bridge the gap between the amount of RW made available after treatment and that of municipal wastewater generated or collected. The gap can be bridged by adopting water-supply systems based on the use of RW that have been designed after taking into account the perceptions of individual users, all the more so because of the stigma attached to projects of reclaiming water. It is therefore important to study the behaviour of users to ascertain the extent to which such projects have been successful in cities in India and in other developing nations in Asia, cities that are expected to house 814 million people by 2050 (UN 2019).
The research reported in the present thesis was conducted in India‘s National Capital Region to assess how much its inhabitants know about water scarcity and to determine the influence of demographics and their correlation to perceived risk, willingness, challenges, and barriers related to the acceptance of RW. The willingness to reuse reclaimed municipal wastewater was ascertained (1) in quantitative terms through a questionnaire survey among two sets of respondents, namely the public at large (individuals who were 15 years old or older) and adolescents (individuals 10–14 years old) and (2) in qualitative terms through semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions with experts and farmers. The quantitative data was assessed using Norm Activation Model for the public at large and Knowledge Acquisition for adolescents, and data sets were numerically coded for statistical analysis using a spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel), and the statistical tests were conducted using SPSS ver. 16.0. To understand the behaviour of the public with respect to the current status of water supply, water scarcity, and use of untreated wastewater, techniques such as principal component analysis were used, whereas the relation, if any, between the sociodemographic factors and other variables was ascertained using the Kruskal–Wallis H test. The qualitative data were coded, and a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) was performed to identify the challenges to municipal use of RW.
Most individuals were receptive to using RW for purposes other than drinking, and ‗water conservative‘ individuals were inclined towards using it even for drinking. The adolescents were aware of the looming water crisis but lacked solution-based knowledge. Advertisements, community workshops, and educational campaigns can make adolescents care more about water as a precious resource. Girls were warier than boys to use reclaimed water for drinking. Farmers were concerned about its quality and the health implications of consuming farm produce from crops irrigated with RW. Effective communication between authorities and end-users can promote the idea of reusing greywater and RW for domestic use and, eventually, after further treatment, for drinking. These findings can shape future policies, regulations, and frameworks to alleviate freshwater scarcity by using RW as one of the many solutions to ensure water security and sustainable supply of freshwater to urban populations.
Key Words of the study: Wastewater reuse, Water use behaviour, Stakeholder perception, Urban communities, Adolescents.
