A gentle nudge has helped to bring change in residents’ approach towards water conservation. People living in some large apartment complexes along the Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR) are able to conserve a minimum of 10% of water using behavioural economics approach.
As a pilot study, the Centre of Excellence for Change (CEC), a voluntary organisation formed chiefly by officials of various government agencies, used the ‘nudge’ concept to encourage residents to save water.
Using the concept, the team identified the psychological factors that proved to be a block against water conservation and implemented a two-pronged approach —through students and appeal letters to residents — to alter people’s attitude towards saving water.
“We tried to influence residents by gently prodding them to save water during their daily use. We used tools such as information cards, sharing conservation messages through social media and appeal letters to residents,” said K. Nagarajan, president of CEC.
The team from CEC elaborated on the simple ways to conserve water and gave them stickers to remind them about the water use and the plight of many people who did not have proper access to water.
“Using a mug instead of running tap would help in saving nearly 15,000 litres of water a year. We save about 20,000 litres of water a year by avoiding overflowing over head tanks and washing vegetables in a vessel instead of running tap,” said a team member. The team found that the maximum volume of water was wasted in the kitchen and created awareness on the means to cut down use.
The constant nudges and campaign through children helped in water conservation, the team says. The team monitored the water meters and electricity consumption for a month to check on water use. In areas such as Kodambakkam and Ambattur where households were approached through students’ campaign, nearly 10% of the energy consumption had reduced in a month.
This translated to decrease in water use by nearly 9,700 litres a month. Similarly, in 2,000 apartments, the study found the households that were using nearly 11,000 litres a month were able to save a minimum of 500 litres using a few techniques.
A.Kamil, secretary of Thazambur Arihant Heirloom Flatowners Welfare Association, said: “We mainly depend on borewells for our use. This new approach that reminds about water use has encouraged to conserve more and identify and reduce sources of wastage.”
Going by the normal supply of 830 million litres a day, if 10.3 % is saved in households, nearly 86 mld can be saved. The team plans to approach Chennai Metrowater to replicate the study in apartment complexes across the city.