Table of Content - Volume 20 Issue 2 - November 2021

Knowledge, attitude and practice of water conservation methods among high school students - A cross sectional study

Uppili Venkat Ragavan M^1*, Laxman Saran², K Yudhiesh kumar³, Varun Visakan⁴, Siddharth S⁵, Vignesh⁶, R Vinoth⁷, Hari Ram⁸

¹Assistant Professor, ^{2,3,4,5,6,7,8}House Surgeon, Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College and Hospital, Ommandurar Government Estate, Chennai, INDIA.

Email: ragavanmdcm@gmail.com

Abstract Background: Water is the elixir of life. We need water for literally every purpose. Right from the cell in the body water is indispensable. It is estimated that water requirement for drinking and domestic use is around 150-200 litres per head per day. It is especially important to educate and create awareness among the public of the importance of saving water and responsible water use. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among high school students from Chennai. The data was collected using pre tested and validated questionnaire containing details of socio demographic details, knowledge, attitude and practice of water conservation methods were asked in local language. A total of 210 students were included in this study. Results: Around 62% of the students correctly told the source of water and more than 92 % of the students were aware of water recycling. Almost all the students were aware of rain water harvesting (99.5%) out of 82% of the students found it to be economical and 94 % of the students rightly said that this process will improve the ground water level. Boiling is the common method of purifying followed by the students at home (46%). Around 73 % of the students closes the water tap while brushing. More than 75 % of the students closes the water tap completely after using. Conclusion: We found from our study that the knowledge of the students about water conservation and harvesting is high so as they practice the method of water conservation in their homes, the attitude towards water conservation and harvesting is on a positive note, these students who are ambassadors of the future having a positive attitude shows that the practice of water conservation and water harvesting in future is in safe hands.

Keywords: Water Conservation, Water harvesting, Students, KAP.

INTRODUCTION

Water is the elixir of life. We need water for literally every purpose. Right from the cell in the body water is indispensable. It is estimated that water requirement for drinking and domestic use is around 150-200 litres per head per day.¹ But at present, water has become something so hard to find; it has become a depleted. At present, approximately 1.2 billion people live in areas wherein water is scarce and 1.6 billion people face economic water shortage.² Therefore, the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, various governments, and public and private sector entities have exerted intensive efforts to provide sufficient water supply to residents, particularly in rural areas and in developing countries.²Furthermore, it is expected that anthropogenic climate change will increase drought risk in many areas around the world³ Typically, however, it is when a drought strikes that underlying vulnerabilities become apparent, sometimes not allowing planners the time to respond⁴ In fact, due to the length of the drought, many would argue that it changed the culture of water management in the country^5,6 Dolnicar et al.⁷ suggested that several factors affect water conservation behavior. These factors include environmental attitudes^8,9 and a range of demographic variables, including gender, age,¹⁰ education,¹¹ and information transparency of water consumption, which is the strongest factor. An improved understanding of daily water consumption practices will encourage consumers to adopt water conservation behavior.⁷ Studies have shown that people often have misconceptions on actual water consumption.^12,13 Some users tend to underestimate their water consumption.¹⁴ However, studies are lacking on consumer misconceptions regarding actual water consumption on specific water-use patterns and their relation to the socio-demographic profiles of users and household conservation awareness¹² There is currently acute water shortage in various parts of the world and therefore it is essential that all people are aware of the importance of saving water. It is especially important to educate and create awareness among the public of the importance of saving water and responsible water use. Students play an important role as they are the generation who are about to face huge problems regarding water shortage and therefore it is very important that they know the importance of conserving water and protecting natural resources of fresh water. Hence this study was planned to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of water conservation methods among high school students.

METHODOLOGY

A cross sectional study was conducted among high school students from Chennai. Prior permission was obtained from the authorities before the start of the study. The data was collected by the medical under graduate students who were trained beforehand for this purpose and it was supervised by the faculty. The data was collected using pre tested and validated questionnaire containing details of socio demographic details, knowledge, attitude and practice of water conservation methods were asked in local language. The data was collected from a school which was selected by simple random method, for this purpose all the high schools in the city limit were line listed and one school was selected randomly using lottery method and all the students in high school who were present on the day of data collection and willing to participate were included in the study. No efforts were made to collect data from the students who were absent on that day. The high school students who were willing to take part in the study was included in the study and those who were not willing to participate in the study were excluded. A total of 210 students were included in this study. The collected data were then entered in MS excel and analyzed using Epi-info. Frequencies and percentages of proportion of respondents were computed, data were also summarized in pie charts. Appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical methods will be applied on the data collected. Institution ethical committee clearance was obtained before the start of the study. Prior permission from the school was obtained and assent from the students and consent from the parents were obtained before collecting data. Confidentiality of the participants were maintained.

RESULTS

The study was conducted among 210 high school students of urban Chennai. Since the students are from high school the common age group was between 13 to 15 years and most of the study participants belongs to the age 14 years. When the students were asked about the knowledge of water conservation and about drinking water most of the students had adequate knowledge. Around 62% of the students correctly told the source of water and more than 92 % of the students were aware of water recycling. Almost all the students were aware of rain water harvesting (99.5%) out of 82% of the students found it to be economical and 94 % of the students rightly said that this process will improve the ground water level. (Table.1) Boiling is the common method of purifying followed by the students at home (46%). More than two third of the study participant were using bore well as a source of drinking water (76%). Majority of the students uses bucket water to take bath (56.2%) compared to shower (16.2%). Around 73 % of the students closes the water tap while brushing. More than 75 % of the students closes the water tap completely after using. Around 86 % of the students had no water leakage at their home. 18 % of the students responded that they always use the running water for cleaning vessels. About washing the vehicles only 12 % of the participants responded that they wash it every day while 41 % of the participants wash their vehicle once in a while. Majority of the study participants (34.3%) always reuse the water and in 74 % of their homes had water harvesting facility. (Table. 2) More than 90 % of the study participants felt harvesting water is essential and 68 % of the students have experienced water shortage in their home. 43 % of the students though that they are wasting water and when asked about the main reason for water shortage the students responded that failure to store the incoming water (26.2 %) and wasting water (26.2 %) as the main reason for shortage of water. Majority of the student (52 %) felt they are responsible for the water shortage. Newspaper and magazines (33.8%) were the main source of awareness and information about water conservation and harvesting for the students. (Table. 3).

Table 1: Distribution of study participants based on Knowledge on water conservation

Variables	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Age
13 years	22	10.5
14 years	177	84.3
15 years	11	5.2
How much Percentage of earths water is drinkable?
< 1 %	164	78.1
>5 %	27	12.9
>10 %	5	2.4
>25 %	14	6.7
Largest source of fresh water
Lakes	24	11.5
Rivers	25	11.9
Ground water	31	14.8
Icebergs	130	61.9
Awareness about water recycling
Yes	195	92.9
No	15	7.1
Awareness about rain water harvesting
Yes	209	99.5
No	1	.5
Is rain water harvesting economical
Yes	173	82.4
No	37	17.6
How can you store harvested rain water? (multiple choice)*
Bore well	65	31.0
Reservoirs	27	12.9
Underground tanks	64	30.5
Wells	29	13.8
Others	25	11.9
Others	27	12.9
Does rain water harvesting help in improving the ground water level
Yes	198	94.3
No	12	5.7
Total	210	100

Table 2: Distribution of study participants based on practice of water conservation

Variables	Frequency (n)		Percentage (%)
Availability of motor or hand pump
Yes		173		82.4
No		37		17.6
How do you purify water at your home? *
Boiling		96		45.7
Filtration		56		26.7
Reverse osmosis		37		17.6
Others		21		10.0
Use of borewell
Yes		159		75.7
No		51		24.3
What will you use for bathing
Shower		34		16.2
Bucket water		118		56.2
Both		58		27.6
Do you open the water tape while brushing?
Yes		10		4.8
Partially open		42		20.0
No		152		72.4
Rarely		6		2.9
Do you completely close the tap after using them
Always		163		77.6
Mostly		36		17.1
Sometimes		8		3.8
Rarely		3		1.4
Do you have any leaking tapes at home
Yes		29		13.8
No		181		86.2
Do you use running water for washing vessels
All the time		39		18.6
Mostly		28		13.3
Sometimes		57		27.1
Rarely		37		17.6
Never		49		23.3
How often do you wash your vehicle
Once a day		25		11.9
Once in two days		11		5.2
Once in a while		85		40.5
Others		89		42.4
Do you water the plants
Yes		121		57.6
No		89		42.3
Do you reuse water
Always		72		34.3
Mostly		31		14.8
Sometimes		49		23.3
Rarely		32		15.2
Never		26		12.4
Do you use RO in your home
Yes		125		59.5
No		85		40.5
Do you have rain water harvesting facility in your home
Yes		155		73.8
No		55		26.2
Total		210		100

Table 3: Distribution of study participants based on their attitude towards water conservation

Variables	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
What do you think of rain water harvesting
Essential	190	90.5
Not essential	8	3.8
Others	12	5.7
Have you heard of water scarcity in various part of the world
Yes	201	95.7
No	9	4.3
Have you ever experienced water shortage in your home
Yes	143	68.1
No	67	31.9
Do you think you are wasting water
Yes	91	43.3
No	119	56.7
What do you think is the main cause of water scarcity (multiple choice)*
Over usage	55	26.2
Wasting water	20	9.5
Improper management of available water	43	20.5
Failure to store incoming water	55	26.2
Deficit of natural resources	37	17.6
Do you feel responsible for today’s water shortage?
Yes	109	51.9
Mostly	30	14.3
Sometimes	42	20.0
Rarely	19	9.0
Never	10	4.8
Where do you get information about water conservation
Newspaper and magazine	71	33.8
Tv news	20	9.5
School	29	13.8
Friends and family	34	16.2
What’s app	29	13.8
Others	27	12.9
Total	210	100

DISCUSSION

The study was conducted among 210 high school students of urban Chennai. Since the students are from high school the common age group was between 13 to 15 years and most of the study participants belongs to the age 14 years. Similar studies regarding the knowledge and attitude about water conservation has been done in different countries of the world. Masserini Lucio et al.¹⁵ conducted a study investigating attitudes towards water savings among Italian university students. 429 students under the age group of 32 years were taken as the study sample which is more than the age of our study participants.

Janna M. Parker et al.¹⁶ also conducted a study on water conservation behaviour of college students residing in dormitories in the United States. This survey was conducted in a phased manner and per capita usage of different group of dormitories were measured along with self-assessment data of knowledge about water conservation among students. Abdelfattah L Abdallah et al.¹⁷ also studied the attitude and knowledge of students about water conservation in Jordan and their attitude towards scarcity of water in the country was also noted. Another study was done in Malaysia by Pey Fang Tan et al.¹⁸ where the author studied the low awareness level among university students in a high rainfall tropical country. In this study 1075 students’ responses were taken into account which is far more than our sample size. In our study when the students were asked about the knowledge of water conservation and about drinking water most of the students had adequate knowledge. Around 62% of the students correctly told the source of water and more than 92 % of the students were aware of water recycling. Almost all the students were aware of rain water harvesting (99.5%) out of 82% of the students found it to be economical and 94 % of the students rightly said that this process will improve the ground water level. (Table.1) Boiling is the common method of purifying followed by the students at home (46%). More than two third of the study participant were using bore well as a source of drinking water (76%). Majority of the students uses bucket water to take bath (56.2%) compared to shower (16.2%). Around 73 % of the students closes the water tap while brushing. More than 75 % of the students closes the water tap completely after using. Around 86 % of the students had no water leakage at their home. 18 % of the students responded that they always use the running water for cleaning vessels. About washing the vehicles only 12 % of the participants responded that they wash it every day while 41 % of the participants wash their vehicle once in a while. Majority of the study participants (34.3%) always reuse the water and in 74 % of their homes had water harvesting facility. (Table. 2)

Matthew T. J. Brownlee et al.¹⁹ in his study has expressed the importance of place attachment, local-level awareness such as drought impacts and global beliefs as equal factors to concern for drought impacts and ultimately water conservation attitudes. As reviewed by Heberlein et al.²⁰, a complex relationship of interacting variables impacts attitudes toward environmental problems and awareness alone is often not enough to promote attitudinal change.

Masserini Lucio et al.¹⁵ also showed in their study that family values are highly correlated to subjective norms, and thus the impacts and individuals receive their behaviour from values acquired within and outside of the family, in addition to the interface between the two factors. This study also concluded that women have robust environmental and water conservation worries than men. This finding was supported by Meyer et al.²¹ in a review, and was contradicted by Cotton. et al.²²More than 90 % of the study participants in the present study felt harvesting water is essential and 68 % of the students have experienced water shortage in their home. 43 % of the students though that they are wasting water and when asked about the main reason for water shortage the students responded that failure to store the incoming water (26.2 %) and wasting water (26.2 %) as the main reason for shortage of water. Majority of the student (52 %) felt they are responsible for the water shortage. Newspaper and magazines (33.8%) were the main source of awareness and information about water conservation and harvesting for the students. (Table. 3). Abdelfattah L Abdallah et al.¹⁷ also described that there was a higher prevalence of importance of developing and preserving water resources and the practice of water harvesting among students. Masserini Lucio et al.¹⁵ also demonstrated that the knowledge of water bill variation and having the responsibility for paying the water bill suggestively impact a students’ water saving behavior and practices. These findings are also supported by studies done by Nataraj and Hanemann. et al.²³

The sample size of the study is one of the limitations of the study further study can be done on the same topic with much higher sample size and covering a larger population in order to obtain a versatile picture of the situation.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we found from our study that the knowledge of the students about water conservation and harvesting is high so as they practice the method of water conservation in their homes, the attitude towards water conservation and harvesting is on a positive note, these students who are ambassadors of the future having a positive attitude shows that the practice of water conservation and water harvesting in future is in safe hands. Even though the proportion of students with positive attitude were higher the job is not done until most of the population shows a similar attitude towards water conservation and harvesting.

Acknowledgement:

The authors like to thank the undergraduate students for their part in data collection

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