Community Knowledge about Water: Who Has Better Knowledge and Is This Associated with Water-Related Behaviors and Support for Water-Related Policies?
Community Knowledge about Water: Who Has Better Knowledge and Is This Associated with Water-Related Behaviors and Support for Water-Related Policies?
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0159063
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发表时间：
2016
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Newton FJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dean AJ;Fielding KS;Newton FJ
可持续的水管理方法要求社区广泛接受政策、做法和技术方面的变化，而这又需要社区的参与。建立一个参与社区的关键第一步是确定社区对水管理的知识，这是一个很少在研究中研究的问题。为了解决这个问题，我们调查了澳大利亚成年人（n = 5172）的代表性样本。使用15个关于家庭活动对水道、城市水循环和水管理的影响的问题对知识进行评估。这项调查还研究了人口统计学，心理社会特征，暴露于水有关的信息，与水有关的行为和政策支持。参与者平均正确回答了8.0个问题（范围0-15）。大多数答复者知道，家庭行动可以减少用水量，影响水道健康，而不到三分之一的人正确地指出，家庭废水在进入水道之前经过处理，城市雨水未经处理，这些水通过不同的管道输送。较高的水知识与年龄较大、教育程度较高和居住在非城市地区有关。饮水知识与在家里说英语以外的语言有关。花园的大小，经验的水限制，满意度，水路使用游泳，和某些信息来源也与知识。更多的水知识与采用节水和减少污染的行为，并支持替代水源和raingardens。这些调查结果证实了社区知识的重要性，并确定了可能需要更多针对性的潜在亚群体，以建立知识和支持水管理举措。
Sustainable approaches to water management require broad community acceptance of changes in policy, practice and technology, which in turn, requires an engaged community. A critical first step in building an engaged community is to identify community knowledge about water management, an issue rarely examined in research. To address this, we surveyed a representative sample of Australian adults (n = 5172). Knowledge was assessed using 15 questions about impact of household activities on waterways, the urban water cycle, and water management. This survey also examined demographics, psychosocial characteristics, exposure to water-related information, and water-related behaviors and policy support. Participants correctly answered a mean of 8.0 questions (Range 0–15). Most respondents knew that household actions can reduce water use and influence waterway health, whereas less than one third correctly identified that domestic wastewater is treated prior to entering waterways, urban stormwater is not treated, and that these are carried via different pipes. Higher water knowledge was associated with older age, higher education and living in non-urban areas. Poorer water knowledge was associated with speaking a language other than English in the home. Garden size, experience of water restrictions, satisfaction, waterway use for swimming, and certain information sources were also associated with knowledge. Greater water knowledge was associated with adoption of water-saving and pollution-reduction behaviors, and support for both alternative water sources and raingardens. These findings confirm the importance of community knowledge, and identify potential subgroups who may require additional targeting to build knowledge and support for water management initiatives.