Page 101 - DUT ICGA Abstract Book

THE THE WATER CRISIS IN DURBAN: AN AN AN ANALYSIS OF OF THE THE ROLE OF OF HOUSEHOLDS IN WATER CONSERVATION
DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
Mbuso Ngcobo
Durban University of of Technology Department of of Public Management Law and Economics Abstract
The continued water crisis in in in South Africa is is is causing many municipalities to exhibit performance problems in water water service delivery While South Africa is a a a a a a a water-scarce country factors like population growth climate change urbanisation and economic development contribute to water shortages This implies that new and innovative ways of managing freshwater resources should be adopted This study aims to examine the the role of of households in in in in water conservation in in in in the the city of of Durban The study fulfils four main objectives to to achieve this aim The first objective objective is is is to to establish the daily water consumption behavioural practices of households households Secondly the the study seeks to to establish the the households’ willingness to to adopt water- saving technologies Thirdly it seeks to to identify the factors preventing households from practising water- saving behaviours Furthermore the the the study finally seeks to recommend some possible solutions that the the the eThekwini Municipality could adopt to promote households’ water conservation The The study uses a a a a a mixed- methods approach where quantitative and and qualitative data are separately collected analysed and and discussed Quantitative data is collected through a a a a a a a survey conducted on on 300 household heads residing across different spatial residential areas On the the other hand qualitative data is collected from seven (7) employees in in the the the Water and Sanitation Unit of the the the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality The The thematic approach is then used to analyse analyse the the qualitative data while descriptive statistics and probit regression models analyse analyse the the the quantitative data Four key findings are reported fin in in in the the the study study First the the the study study found that households fin in in in the the city of Durban generally practice water-efficient behaviours in their daily water water consumption activities Secondly the the type of access to potable water water services was the the primary determinant for practising water- efficient efficient behaviours Third more residents in the suburbs and townships have water-efficient technologies installed installed while none of the the respondents from the the informal settlements has such technologies installed installed Lastly some biographical characteristics emerged as as crucial determinants of water consumption behaviour and the the adoption of water-efficient technologies Key recommendations are given based on on on these findings KEYWORDS: Water Water Water Crisis Water Water Water Conservation Water Water Water Sanitation Durban Book of Abstracts 99