Quantification of potable water savings by residential water conservation and reuse - A case study

To demonstrate the benefits of water conservation at the household level in regional Victoria in Australia, a family house “Sharland Oasis” was designed and built according to an ecologically sustainable design for improved water and energy efficiency. This study has demonstrated that the combined use of alternative water supplies together with water efficient appliances can save up to 77% of total potable water use compared to the average 1990s household water use in the same region considering the location and differing in water use approach. The use of rainwater inside the home alone saved up to 40% of potable water use. In addition to the water savings, there is a significant wastewater discharge saving achieved through the use of water conservation strategies and greywater reuse. A community survey undertaken in regional Victoria revealed that community receptivity for reusing greywater is highest for uses, such as watering gardens and flushing toilets; but it progressively decreased with increasing personal contact with greywater. Positive perception of greywater reuse needs to be encouraged through programs targeted at developing resources, skills and motivation for new water reuse practices and technologies, across a diverse range of social groups.     

Household use of and satisfaction with alternative water sources in Victoria Australia

Climate change is increasing the variability of rainfall, and thus the availability of water supplies in many areas of the world. These impacts are already being felt in the state of Victoria, Australia where a 12 year drought period was recently experienced. Restrictions to water use have been implemented, as one component of a broad policy approach to manage the drought. While anecdotal evidence suggests that the substitution of centralised water supplies is occurring, this has not been proven empirically. This paper reports results from a survey of households in Victoria regarding their use of alternative water sources. The study found that substitution is occurring. Garden watering is the purpose which has the highest rate of alternative water source use. In total 41.6% of respondents always, and 33.2% sometimes use an alternative water source for garden watering. The most commonly used alternative source of water for garden watering is water previously used in the laundry (30.7%). The alternative source of water used was found to vary depending on the purpose of the water use. High levels of satisfaction were found for all alternative water sources used. Several barriers were found to the use of alternative water sources, the main of which were: inflexibility of existing infrastructure, cost, policy, and housing status. The results have implications for water retailers, policy makers and governments in locations facing water shortage.     

Comparison of zooplankton community of different areas in Changjiang River estuary北大核心CSCD

To compare the zooplankton communities in the South Branch, North Branch, North Channel and offshore of the Changjiang (Yangtze River) estuary, two cruises were carried out in the autumn of 2009 and the spring of 2010. A total of 27 species of zooplankton were identified in the spring, including 17 in the offshore, 11 in the south branch, 9 in the north branch, and only 5 in the North Channel. In autumn, altogether 71 species were collected, including 6 in the south branch, 11 in the north branch, 8 species in the North Channel area and 63 in the offshore. Either in the spring or autumn, the average species numbers of the offshore were the highest. Additionally, species numbers of the offshore were significantly higher than that in other areas (P < 0.05) for both seasons. There were no significant differences between the species number of the South Branch and the North Branch (P > 0.05). The species number and diversity index of the inner area were lower than that of the offshore. The average diversity index of offshore area was still the highest in both spring (1.69) and autumn (3.73). In spring, the diversity index of the North Channel was the lowest among four areas, while in autumn, that of the South Branch was the lowest (0.49). In spring, Sinocalanus sinensis was the dominant species of the South Branch, North'Branch and North Channel (> 50% of the total collection by number). The dominant species of offshore area were Tortanus vermiculus and Labidocera euchaeta. While in autumn, the dominant species were different for each area. In the South Branch, the most important species was S. dorrii (93.55% of the total collection by number). The main species was S. dorrii in the South Branch area, S. stenellus and T. vermiculusin in the North Branch and Subeucalanus subcrassus in the offshore (< 30% of the total collection by number). Numbers of species and diversity index seemed to vary among different areas of Changjiang estuary. The underline mechanisms of the regional variation in species number were mainly the salinity and suspended sediment concentrations. Generally speaking, zooplankton was more abundant in the polyhaline water. Diversity index was largely affected by both species number and abundance percentage. The zooplankton community was mainly influenced by the Changjiang diluted water and offshore water mass through affecting the salinity. In autumn, the Kuroshio flowed northward carrying polyhaline water, and brought subtropical species to the offshore of the Changjiang estuary. Since the North Channel is located in the estuarine turbidity zone, suspended sediment concentration of that area is higher than the other areas, which might limit the distribution of some species. To sum up, salinity is the most important factor causing the difference of zooplankton community among different areas in the Changjiang estuary. Besides, water masses and estuarine turbidity also influence the zooplankton community.     

Building Sustainable Community-Based Food Programs: Cautionary Tales from The Garden

This essay calls attention to the practical implications that community food organizers can glean from Scott Hamilton Kennedy's documentary, The Garden. More specifically, the authors examine the discursive tensions faced by the South Central Farmers as a way to make sense of their own use of dialog, policy, and health networking to build a community food initiative. The essay concludes by offering a unique metaphor-mycelium-in order to promote sustainable health practices and organize community-based food programs.     

Citizen science for policy development: The case of koala management in South Australia

Citizen science involves the engagement of non-scientists in scientific research. Citizen science projects have been reported to be useful in policy development but there is little detail of how projects have contributed. The citizen science project, the Great Koala Count (GKC) collected ecological data about koalas and social data that have been used in the initial stages of the development of a South Australian Government koala management and conservation policy. After the GKC, we conducted an online survey of people who participated in the project and a control group. The survey focussed on opinions towards possible management options for koalas in South Australia. GKC participants were also asked about project-related changes in knowledge and opinions. We received 970 valid surveys and found some differences in opinions between GKC participants and the control group. Therefore, the GKC did not provide a representative sample of the entire South Australian population. However, we contend that the data from the citizen scientists are still valuable for policy development as it has been provided by people who are highly engaged in the topic (koala management in this case). It can be difficult to engage the public in the policy development process, and the citizen science project enabled the collection of a wide range of opinions, helping to discover and define relevant issues. Additionally, many people learnt about koalas and koala-related management issues, and some changed their opinions regarding koala management, also useful outcomes from the project in the policy development context. Our findings suggest that citizen science is useful for policy makers because projects provide the opportunity for dialogue with the people most interested in the topic of the project.     

Dealing with uncertainty in qualitative models with a semi-quantitative approach based on simulations. Application to the Gironde estuarine food web (France)

In the context of ecosystem approach to fisheries, it is a critical issue to build management tools able to predict the possible trajectories of ecosystems under various human pressure or environmental variations, but also capable to point out influent and sensitive components.     

Anaerobic digestion and community development: A case study from Hainan province,China

Connections and relationships between conservation practices and community development in relation to rural sustainability have received considerable attention in recent years, especially in developing countries. Among many sound practices around the world, anaerobic digestion (AD) technology has long been encouraged as an alternative source of energy, while contributing to resource conservation and economic development initiatives in developing rural areas. Guided by the theme of sustainable development, the study examined the current applications of AD technology in Meiwan Xincun Village (MWXCV) in Hainan Province, China. Employing a self-administered questionnaire survey, face-to-face interviews and on-site observation, the study explored the diffusion process, current operation and local impacts of AD practice. The study identifies that leadership, education, technical support and local economy are key factors affecting the diffusion of AD, and governmental financial incentives are significantly effective measures to make the technology economically viable for local residents. The technology was found to fit into the rural livelihood system of the village, with considerable environmental and socio-economic benefits. Guided by the leaders of the village, the local residents generally accept and support the practice and are willing to contribute to introducing the technology in and out of the village. Suggestions regarding the utilization and diffusion of AD elsewhere are presented to enhance the potential capacity of the practice to generate benefits across rural Hainan.     

Dancing Stories: A Community Dance Residency in a Hospice in New Zealand

Canoes forging through cold waters, mountains rising from the sea, a heart beating under a mountain lake, an albatross sailing toward the Antarctic: these were the story-images of Coastal Mappings, a large-scale community project set in and around Dunedin, New Zealand. In the Coastal Mappings performance project, people in the last months of their lives joined cancer survivors, family members and other interested people in explorations of Pakeha myths (by European-settler descendents) and Maori myths (by descendents of the crews of the first canoes, first inhabitants of New Zealand). Together, we created personal landscapes through movement, storytelling, photography and video. In this essay, I discuss some of the opportunities, challenges and experiences of leading a community dance project in an intercultural social environment, and with people whose relationship to their environment is different from mine.     

Urban Australians using recycled water for domestic non-potable use--an evaluation of the attributes price, saltiness, colour and odour using conjoint analysis

Recycled water use in urban areas is viewed as one part of the solution to Australia's water shortage. The effectiveness of policies designed to promote recycled water systems depends on the acceptance by the community of the price, colour, odour and salt content of the recycled water. In Australia and other countries, limited research has been conducted that investigates community attitudes to and willingness to pay for recycled water, especially in urban settings. Community acceptance of recycled water and the economic feasibility of such projects have not been widely evaluated, even though the long-term feasibility of many projects is dependent on such information. This paper examines the attitudes of an urban Australian community living at Mawson Lakes in South Australia, to using recycled water for non-potable domestic purposes. Conjoint analysis (CA) was used to evaluate participant's (n=136) preferences for various attributes of recycled water (colour, odour, salt content and price) for various uses (garden watering, toilet flushing and clothes washing). The analysis was used to estimate the respondent's willingness to pay (WTP) for quality increases for each of the attributes. Differences in WTP were investigated according to various demographic variables including income and education. Results indicate that for garden watering having 'low salt levels' is the most important attribute of recycled water, for clothes washing 'colourless' is the most important attribute, and for toilet flushing a 'low price' was the most important attribute. Respondents were willing to pay for increases in the quality of recycled water. The amount they were willing to pay varied depending on applied use and the attribute in question. Respondents were most willing to pay for an increase in quality of recycled water when used for clothes washing (willing to pay Australian dollars (A$) 0.07/cubic meter (m(3)) for removal of colour, A$0.065 per cubic meter for an increase in quality of recycled water from 'salty' to 'low salt,' and A$ 0.06/m(3) for removal of odour (1A$=0.75 US $ and 0.62 euro, August 24, 2005)). Segmentation of the price attribute by demographic sectors reveals that those in the higher income bracket, higher education sector, middle age group, and who are male, had a higher marginal valuation on price. The results of this study provide important information for recycled water retailers and water policy developers, helping achieve greater economic feasibility for future recycled water projects, to the satisfaction of the communities involved.