Environmental Sustainability Working Group researcher Madeline Wade recently presented her research, “Public Perceptions of Water Reuse in Norman, Oklahoma,” during the University of Oklahoma’s online Undergraduate Research Day.
Read on to view Madeline’s full presentation and read an abstract of her project.
Congratulations, Madeline!
ABSTRACT: “Public Perceptions of Water Reuse in Norman, Oklahoma”
Madeline Wade; Psychology, Environmental Studies; madeline.t.wade‐1@ou.edu
Faculty mentors: Randy Peppler; Geography and Environmental Sustainability; rpeppler@ou.edu & Angela Person; Architecture; a@ou.edu
Introduction
The success or failure of municipal wastewater reuse programs is often dependent on public willingness to use recycled wastewater. Wastewater reuse is the advanced treatment of municipal wastewater to reclaim that water and supplement water supply. Despite advanced technologies proving wastewater reuse is a viable and often affordable method of water conservation and ecological protection, these proposed projects often ultimately fail when not supported by the public. Psychological reactions that contribute to behavioral intention have varying levels of influence, with the reaction of disgust or “yuck factor” creating the primary behavioral barrier to using recycled wastewater. Because of this, factors influencing disgust reactions to recycled wastewater are of interest to psychologists and water managers alike, especially when planning water reuse projects. Research has shown that community education initiatives can overcome initial disgust reactions, and that demographic characteristics and risk perceptions can lead to individual differences both in disgust reactions and the associated willingness to support water reuse projects.
Objectives
The City of Norman, Oklahoma, has been planning to implement a pilot project for Indirect Potable Reuse through Lake Thunderbird for several years. This would involve transporting a small portion of Norman’s treated wastewater into to Lake Thunderbird to supplement potable water supply in times of drought or scarcity. This study was a partnership with city officials, including the mayor of Norman, to assess public perceptions of water reuse and investigate the effect of community education on these perceptions.
Methods
To assess the potential for this project to succeed, a study is being carried out in two phases. The first phase involved 83 participants in Norman and focused on assessing current public perceptions of water reuse and willingness to use the water through use of a survey. The second ongoing phase of the study consists of 26 participants and involves a pre- and post-survey instrument to measure public perceptions of water reuse before and after touring Norman’s wastewater treatment plant and meeting with public officials in person. The goal of this phase is to investigate the effects of in-person education, trust level in public officials, and risk perceptions on willingness to support Norman’s water reuse project through voting behavior. Participants in both phases were surveyed on their willingness to use recycled water for a variety of uses and their associated feelings of disgust for each of those uses. Socio-demographic information, including age, level of education, and political affiliation were collected. In the second phase, measures of trust, values, and numeracy (ability to calculate statistical probabilities), which is a predictor of risk perceptions, were also collected.
Results
Results from the first phase of the study found that willingness and disgust are inversely related. Political affiliation, education, and previous knowledge of the program all had significant effects on willingness to use the water. More liberal and more educated participants both showed significantly higher willingness to use recycled water. Those that were aware of Norman’s plan for water reuse were the most supportive of the project. This may be because they are more engaged in their community, or due to education they received about this issue outside of the study. This finding is in line with research that found when people are exposed to relevant information, they are able to overcome associated disgust and adopt a willingness to change behavior. Preliminary data analysis from the second phase of the study indicates that education does have an effect on willingness to support water reuse projects. Relationships of trust, risk, and disgust are not yet clear, but may yield significant results once data collection is complete.
Discussion of Results
These results suggest in general that exposure to certain educational information and initiatives can help people overcome initial reactions of disgust that contribute to behavioral intentions to either use recycled water or support municipal water reuse projects. The results also show a need to depoliticize environmental issues and highlight the benefits of water reuse for both the ecosystem and economy. Research has shown that efforts to make environmental issues non-partisan increase support for them from members of any political party. Results also show the need to create engaging community education initiatives to increase support for water reuse projects. These education initiatives could improve citizen trust of public officials and lower inaccurate perceptions of the risks of consuming recycled water.
Future Research Implications
Future research will focus on varying political contexts that may influence public perceptions. This will be conducted by examining the ways in which discourses of water reuse are created and propagated by public officials. For example, the City of Midwest City, Oklahoma, also is a part of the Lake Thunderbird watershed and would be directly affected by Norman’s water reuse project, yet its motivation and commitment to the project is much less. I plan to examine the discourses in these two cities and evaluate how they have shaped public opinion and perceptions in both places.
Environmental Sustainability Working Group @ OU 