Assessment of Water Consumption at Urban Household Level: A Case Study of Pune, Maharashtra

Abstract

Household behavior is a very important factor in sustainable urbanization of a city. No policy can succeed if it is not implemented at the household level. This paper is concerned with the relationships between urbanization and residential water consumption, taking as a case study five areas—Bhugaon, Warje-Malwadi, Kothrud, Kasba Peth, and Pashan—in Pune Municipal Corporation. The paper investigates the influence of various factors like income, education, and location of households and other behavioral factors on water consumption using correlations and other statistical methods. The data are derived from a sample of sixty households in each of five areas of Pune city located in different directions of the city. Results show that factors like income, housing type, members per household, and the presence of outdoor uses like a garden and swimming pool, lifestyle and consumer behavior toward conservation practices play a significant role in explaining variations in water consumption. Areas with higher consumption show higher water usage. Therefore, behavior and awareness is linked to income and education. Similarly, what practices do the households take with respect to saving water? As a measure, water pricing and metering of water connections could be effective but it needs the companionship of awareness regarding water use. It is concluded that, along with prices and incomes, further research is needed on other demographic and housing variables in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the determinants of domestic water consumption and relating it with implementation of public policies related to sustainability.