“Eat cooked, drink boiled”

A study on Vietnamese household water

usage behaviour

Anna Nghiem

Environmental Science
Bachelor’s degree
15 credits
May 2018
Supervisor: Marwa Dabaieh
Abstract
Vietnam is a country that is characterized by a dense river network, experiencing a rapid
economic growth, and still faces challenges with supplying enough water for the residents
due to increased pollution levels. With water being perceived as one of the most stressed
resources today, there is a need of understanding water usage behaviour. To fill in the gap in
knowledge and provide a better understanding of the attitudes and the perceptions of
household consumption behaviour could be a key to water savings on local and global levels.
This field study was carried out in Hai Phong, the third largest city in Vietnam, as the
potential of generalizing the result to other fast-growing cities and urban areas of the country
was identified. In order to reach an improved understanding of water usage behaviour, the
field study was of multi-design nature and was conducted by combining semi-structured
interviews, water-diaries and observations. The results show that water usage behaviour is
strongly determined by interpersonal trust issues which in most cases lead to an excess water
consumption. The lack of trust did however also generate a cautiousness in water treatment
routines, which could turn into a water savings behaviour. Other factors that affect water
usage behaviour were seasonal aspects and cultural traditions perceptions. Despite the
interpersonal trust issues, the institutional trust proved to be greater than expected while the
role of marketing and information-based messages proved to influence behaviour. Based on
this, water authorities have the potential of encouraging behaviour changes in upcoming
challenges.

Keywords: water, behaviour, trust issues, water usage behaviour, perceptions, attitudes,
vietnam, urbanization, hai phong,

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Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to thank Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency
(Sida) for giving me the opportunity to conduct this field study in Vietnam. I am also grateful
to my contact person Nguyen Minh Thuy who provided me with the needed contacts and
householders for the study while genuinely helping me with all practical issues. The
empirical gathering would not have been successful without you. Furthermore, I would like
to thank my academic supervisor Marwa Dabaieh for all the useful feedback I received
during the process. Lastly, I would like to show gratitude towards the participant respondents
in my research. My field study has provided me with positive experiences and I have
retrieved valuable knowledge from everyone I have met during the trip.

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Contents
Abstract 1

Acknowledgements 2

1.0 Introduction 5
1.1 Water as a resource 5
1.2 Problem statement 6
1.3 Research questions 6
1.4 Research aim 7

2.0 Background 8
2.1 Introducing Vietnam 8
2.3 Introducing Hai Phong 9
2.4 Water in Hai Phong 10
2.5 Trust issues in Vietnam 11
2.6 Water use as an environmental behaviour 12
2.7 Household trends in Vietnam 12
2.8 Perceptions 13

3.0 Theoretical framework 14

3.1 Relationship 14
3.1.1 Marxism and the environment 14
3.1.2 Technofetischism 15
3.2 Behaviour and attitudes 16
3.2.1 Individualism 16
3.2.2 Rationality 17
3.2.3 The theory of planned behaviour 17

4.0 Methodology 19
4.1 Research design of the case study 19
4.2 Sampling 20
4.3 Execution of the semi-structured interviews 20
4.4 The design of the water diaries 21
4.5 Complementary observations 21
4.6 Interpreting the data 22

5.0 Empirical findings 22

5.1 Structures of the houses 23
5.1.1 Water meters setting limits 25
5.2 Behaviour 25
5.2.1 Chores and everyday activity 25
5.2.2 Food preparation 26
5.2.3 Seasonal aspects 27
5.3 Attitudes 27
5.3.1 Trust issues 28
5.3.2 Knowledge and traditions 29

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 5.3.3 Water savings contra water minimizing 30
5.4 Perceptions of water consumption 32

6.0 Analysis & Discussion 34

6.1 Water use behaviour 34
6.1.1 Tracking 34
6.1.2 Cautiousness 34
6.2 Trust issues affecting attitudes 35
6.3 Water minimizing behaviour 36
6.3.1 Attitude towards the behaviour 36
6.3.2 Subjective norms 37
6.3.3 Perceived behavioural control 38
6.3.4 Economic factors 38
6.4 Knowledge and traditions 39
6.5 Perceptions 40

7.0 Concluding remarks 42

7.1. Summary 42
7.2 The results in a context 42
7.3 Reflections of the field study 43

8.0 References 45

9.0 Appendix 49
Appendix 1 49
Appendix 2 50
Appendix 3 51
Appendix 4 52

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1.0 Introduction

1.1 Water as a resource

Water has always been one of the world’s most important resources that ensure sustainability
of life on this earth. Adequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation are basic human
needs as it is a resource that heavily influence public health and living standards. For humans,
water can be considered a social and economic good with several beneficial effects on our
societies due to its importance to the economic development, its essentiality for life and
health, and the cultural and religious significance (Gleick, Wolff, Chalecki & Reyes, 2002).
Ecosystem services also rely on water to support the provision for maintaining biodiversity,
but water is however perceived as one of the world’s most stressed resources today (Guppy,
2014). According to World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund (WHO
& UNICEF, 2013), approximately 884 million people worldwide were thought to be without
improved water resources in 2013, with the majority of water poor people living in Africa,
Oceania and parts of Asia.

In the current state, rapid urbanization is anticipated in Southeast Asia and South Asia
(Makino, Noda, Keokhamphui, Hamada, Oki & Oki, 2016). Vietnam is one of the countries
that has experienced fast industrialization and economic growth which has lead to massive
population shift from the countryside to the city, while creating increased pressure on the
environment (Le Luu, 2017). In 2011, only 13% of the Vietnamese population had access to
clean water, making waterborne diseases a remaining issue of public health concern due to
contaminated water (PATH, 2011). The Government of Vietnam has made progress in
improving water sanitation by meeting the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) targets for
safe drinking water and basic sanitation (Van Minh, Oh, Hoat, Lee & Williams, 2016).
Despite the improvements, the daily water consumption has at the same time increased,
resulting in strains on natural resources and a dramatic decrease of river quality (Tran Thi,
Jong-koo, Juhwan, Hoang Van, Chul Ou, Le Thi & Tran Khang, 2016).

Access to safe drinking water is declining and extracting groundwater has lead to depletion of
groundwater stock, which makes water a scarce natural resource, especially during hot and
dry summers (Dao, Nguyen & Han, 2013). This, in turn, may place considerable stress on
households. Jorgensen, Graymore & O’Toole (2009) argues that factors that influence

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household water use should be taken into consideration when developing effective household
demand management programs. With the rapid urbanization in developing countries such as
Vietnam, there is a need to fully understand individuals, as behaviour is linked with demand
(Hassel & Cary, 2007). To understand the demand, the similarities between the relationship
people and a natural resource such as water and general consumer behaviour have to be
highlighted. According to Vieria, Jorge & Covas (2015) consumer behaviour could be
determined by the actions of peers. Jorgensen et al. (2009) claims that this has a determining
effect on people’s water consumption, since an individual will not put effort in minimizing
their own water use if they feel that their peers do not minimize their water use. This trust
issue is related to interpersonal trust, which is defined by the trust in other consumers
(Jorgensen et al., 2009). In addition to the interpersonal trust, people are less likely to save
water if they lack trust in the water authority, also called institutional trust. Including the
concept of trust is of significance when studying and predicting behaviour and attitudes.

1.2 Problem statement

There is a relevance in studying behaviours in an urban context in Vietnam since the

urbanization reveals a growing trend. While the water quality is deteriorating, there still
seems to be an increase in water consumption. To explore householders behaviours, attitudes
and their perceptions of their water use could fill the gap in knowledge and provide a better
understanding of how people’s relationship to water as a resource is. While there are existing
studies on household water usage, there seems to be limited research on water usage
behaviour in Vietnam as most of the past research within the area of water focuses on
households access to safe water, the actual quality of water resources, and technical
innovations to improve untreated water. This study aims to understand Vietnamese household
behaviour. The city Hai Phong has been chosen for this case study since it is one of the
largest and fast-growing cities in Vietnam which will provide a better understanding of
household water usage behaviour in an urban environment.

1.3 Research questions

The main purpose of this study is to study domestic water use and savings behaviour attitudes
in Vietnamese households.
- How do the householders use water and which factors determine the way they use it?

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 - How do people's perceptions of their own water use and how they think about water
as a resource affect their behaviour, attitudes and everyday water consumption and
savings?
- Which attitudes about water use lead to which water saving and minimizing methods?

1.4 Research aim

The research area includes getting a wider perception of householders experiences of their
everyday water use, activities and patterns. Their views on water consumption, management
and conservation behaviour will be the main interest. However, other aspects of water-related
issues will also be concerned, such as their water treatments and general knowledge about
water, sanitation and health. The study is of explorative nature and seeks to understand how
people perceive and talk about their water usage, but the research area can also be considered
to be in the intersection of development issues and environmental problems, and is relevant to
both. The additional relevance of studying behaviour is due to the link between consumption
and demand. Water, as a scarce resource, must be used more efficiently to permit a wealthy
and healthy society to develop. The consumption should not exceed certain levels or else the
results of environmental degradation will have impacts on nature and humans. To identify
different factors of water use and savings in residents everyday life could be a key to water
savings on local, national and global levels. Besides developing technology for water
treatment and wastewater management, research about people’s behaviour and actions will
facilitate which instruments to use when developing policy, water management plans,
communication and education to make water use efficient.

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2.0 Background

2.1 Introducing Vietnam

Vietnam has had several economic development phases since 1975, with the most significant
reform being the transition from a centrally-planned economy to a market-oriented one
(Duong, Le Kim Thoa, Tuan & Le Thu, 2001). The reform has lead to an economic growth
with massive urbanization of agricultural land (ibid.). Vietnam has been referred to as one of
the fastest-urbanizing countries in Southeast Asia (Asian Development Bank, 2012) and was
ranked as the world’s thirteenth most populous country in 2014 (Smets, 2014). With the fast
growth in both economy and population, the water quality has deteriorated and evidence
show that the pollution level is increasing in surface water, groundwater and coastal waters
(Aquastat, 2011).

The economic activity along the river and several other human activities such as mining and
agriculture, have added pressure on natural resources (Hoang & Nguyen, 2008). The primary
sources of water pollution have however been identified as municipal and industrial
wastewater (Chau, Sebesvari, Amelung & Renaud, 2015). Sida (Swedish Agency for
Development Cooperation) reported Vietnam as one of the countries that has experienced one
of the world’s highest economic growth rates over the past two decades and have taken the
step from being a country with low- to middle income country status (Embassy of Sweden,
2008). Since the rapid industrialization has happened during a short amount of time, the
development of water treatment infrastructure has not kept pace with the social and
economics needs (Smets, 2014). In 2017, British Business Group (BBGV) (2017) reported
that 33,9% out of the 91,4 million residents lived in urban areas and the forecast was
expected to rise to 34,7% by 2020, which shows a continuous growing trend. Due to the
increasing urbanization, more people in Vietnam are likely to use water in an urban context.

2.2 Water situation

The landscape is characterized by a dense river network and most larger cities, like Hanoi,
Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong, provide an availability to water as many of the rivers runs
through them. The river network consists of 13 large river systems; 9 of them contributing to
90% of total river basin area (Dong, Duong, Giang, Hanh, Kan, Nai, Nguyen, Ninh & Phuc,
2008). One significant variable when discussing water usage is that the distribution of water

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resources in Vietnam is highly variable during the year owing to unevenly distributed
monsoon rainfall (Aquastat, 2011). These high variations, combined with limited storage and
flood control infrastructure result in devastating floods during the wet season, but extreme
low flows in the dry season. The issue
of distribution has remained a problem
as UNICEF (2016) reported that there
are still differences in access to clean
water between regions, rural and
urban areas which implies that more
human and financial resources,
involvement of local authorities and
communication, are needed. The
amount of average daily water
consumption of urban areas were
expected to reach 80 to 90 litres per
capita, while the average water
consumption in larger cities could
reach 120 to 130 litres per capita
(WATSAN, 2012).

Figure 1. Map over South East Asia (Koopman, 2013)

2.3 Introducing Hai Phong

Hai Phong was chosen for the execution of this study mainly because Hai Phong is one of the
following cities that has the most urban growth after Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi (Asian
Development Bank, 2012). The urban perspective of householders usage was a significant
factor in the choice of study location due to the growing trend of urbanization in Vietnam,
and the potential applicability of the results could be generalized to similar fast-growing
cities and urban areas in Vietnam, such as Da Nang and Can Tho. With a population of
approximately 1,9 million, Hai Phong is Vietnam's third largest city and is situated around
100 kilometers outside of the capital city Ha Noi (General statistics office of Viet Nam,
2015). Hai Phong holds the role of being a major economic port city and possesses the largest
seaport in northern Vietnam (Hai Phong Portal, 2012). The major seaport is considered an

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important traffic junction of the north, which puts the city in a position that holds an
important role of the economic system of Vietnam (United Nations, 2004). The fast
development of the city is partly due to the industrial sector and the port, which is central to
the growth (OECD, 2016). Nonetheless, the city’s growth has caused pressure on the
environment including: air and water pollution, traffic congestion, waste recycling, urban
sprawl, increased greenhouse gas emissions and high vulnerability to seasonal floods (OECD,
2016). The availability of surface water is especially threatened by the industrial plants and
urban areas that release untreated wastewater into the lake and rivers, which at the same time
is the main water source for residents in the city (OECD, 2016).

Figure 2. A map over South Asia, which shows the location of Hai Phong and is marked with a red
star (Vacationstogo, 2018)

2.4 Water in Hai Phong

Residents of Hai Phong retrieve their water from three main river sources, the An Kim Hai,
Da Do, and Gia— which is treated in one of the city’s four treatment plants before it reaches
households (Asian Development Bank, 2008). The water quality in Hai Phong is the only one
in Vietnam that has been approved by the quality standards of World Health Organization
WHO, while meeting the country’s own national standards for potable water (Formin
Finland, 2013). As of 2014, approximately 99% of urban districts and 94% of rural districts
had access to treated water, indicating a high rate of residentials having access to safe water
(OECD, 2016). Despite the improving quality of water, the high percentage of the residents
having access to treated water and the abundant sources of surface water, the city of Hai
Phong still face challenges with providing a stable supply to ensure that the water keeps up
with the demand. The average residential consumption in Hai Phong were estimated to be
around 100 litres per day between 2007-2009 and is one of the Vietnamese cities showing a

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decreasing trend in water consumption between these years (Vietnam Water Supply and
Sewage Association, 2010). Da Nang and Can Tho, which are included in being the fast
growing cities of the country, have a higher daily water consumption average per capita. The
trend of decreased water consumption proposes an additional purpose to study behaviour in
urban areas of Hai Phong.

2.5 Trust issues in Vietnam

Including the concept of trust issues will have a significant role in improving the
understanding of Vietnamese behaviour and attitudes. Vietnam is a country that has
strengthened its capability in economic management, but corruption has been recognised as
an endemic factor in the public and private sectors (Poate, Attridge, McGrath, Dang &
Nguyen Thi, 2011). Sida has stated that corruption in Vietnam have not been worse
comparatively than other countries in the region at similar stages of development, but do
account for a 3-4% of lost GDP each year (ibid.). In 2008, Vietnam Household Living
Standards Survey (VHLSS) showed that 65% of the respondents thought that corruption was
a major problem for their family as it affected the contact with police, land use and central
and local health services (General Statistics Office of Viet Nam, 2008). Together with the
change of economic system, the structure of the political system became a one-party political
system and has been described as “mono-organizational socialism” (Thayer, 2008). With
only one party, Vietnam is currently in a state with no political pluralism and Sida (2008)
reports that freedom of expression is still restricted. Based on this, the hypothesis is that the
residents should have trust issues with the government's ability to provide in numerous areas,
and eventually affect behaviour generally, since the quality and trust in institutions has an
impact on interpersonal trust (Rose-Ackerman, 2001).

Trust has earlier been identified as an important driving force when studying householders
behaviours in a waste-separation program in Hoi An, Vietnam (Le Thi Thanh, Nomura,
Takahashi & Yabe, 2017). There is need for a system trust, which includes a trust in
reliability that local authorities have the ability to to treat the sorted waste (ibid.). This
particular study concerns behaviours towards waste-separation, but the results could be
applied to water usage behaviour, for instance, in situations where authorities need to
prescribe water savings- or minimizing techniques, but fail to affect behaviours due to
counterproductivity of the message since the residents do not trust the ability of the

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authorities. The results of the study on householders behaviours in waste-separation program
is also applicable on this study as it could specifically reflect Vietnamese people’s attitudes.
Furthermore, Kollmuss & Agyeman (2002) claims that a lack of trust in the institution often
hinders people from generally acting pro-environmentally, since the suspicion of the local
and national government makes them less willing to follow the prescribed actions.

2.6 Water use as an environmental behaviour

Numerous factors that determine water consumption within households have been identified
in past research , which include socio-economic attributes such as the number of people in the
house, the age of residents and the residents income (Willis, Stewart, Panuwatwahnich,
Williams & Hollingsworth, 2010). Furthermore, attitudes, behaviour and beliefs of the
consumers have also proven to be of importance. Jorgensen et al. (2009) highlights how
information-based education strategies have the ability to increase awareness, but have not
always been completely successful after execution. This is due to the lack of direct link
between attitude and behaviour, which result in individuals believing that water savings are
important, but fails to reflect in their actual behaviour. Rajecki (1982) tried to explain the gap
between attitudes and behaviours by defining normative influences as a determining cause,
which includes social norms, cultural traditions and family customs. Rajecki (1982) means
that if the dominant culture propagates a certain lifestyle, then the effects of the prescribed
pro-environmental attitude is less likely to occur, which widens the gap between attitude and
action. When it comes to deliberately actions, Kollmuss & Agyeman (2002) adds that a
person needs at least basic knowledge about a subject to be able to act. The knowledge forms
an attitude which forms the behaviour.

2.7 Household trends in Vietnam

With attitudes forming behaviours, general household trends concerning water usage are
expected to be shaped. Research on Vietnamese household water usage are limited, but trends
have been found. It has been proposed that the price of water can affect the demand in the
short run, to either increase or decrease water consumption (Campbell, Johnson & Larson
2004), but it is not clear if the awareness of the price is the main driver. Jorgensen et al.
(2009) suggests that it could be due to the pricing structure, such as the frequency of the
billing. The pricing of water used to count as an factor that influence water consumption, but
has more recently been repelled since research demonstrates that residential water demand is
price inelastic due to its relative low cost when comparing to other life essentials (Willis et al.

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2010). Furthermore, pricing of water filters have proven to be of significance in water
treatment behaviour in Vietnam (PATH, 2011). Most Vietnamese households desire to have
water filters at home, but are sometimes discouraged from buying filter due to the price. It
has been concluded by PATH (2011) that marketing also has a significance, since households
who have sufficient purchasing power to buy filters are only willing to buy these goods if
they perceive the need to be great. Instead, most Vietnamese household claims to settle for
boiling, which is also strongly promoted by the Vietnamese government (PATH, 2011).
Water usage behaviour can in this sense be considered to be determined by the perceptions of
individuals.

2.8 Perceptions

When it comes to self-perception, an earlier study showed that consumers perceptions of their
water consumption does not always match their actual behaviour (Fan, Wang, Liu, Yang,
Qin, 2014). Icaro Consulting (2013) underlines how individual’s self-perceptions can differ
from actual behaviour due to the difficulty of translating their behaviour into water
consumption, i.e. individuals may judge turning off the tap while brushing their teeth as a
great effort in water minimizing even if the water savings associated with this behaviour is
actually modest. Despite proof on mismatching self-perception, results in Fan et al. (2014)
study did indicate that significant relations between the perceived consumption existed in
some cases, with female and elder consumers being more accurate with estimating their water
consumption, whereas consumers with high education levels and incomes usually
underestimate their consumption. Fan et al. (2014) proposes that the groups that estimates
their water consumption more accurately have better water conservation consciousness and
conservation practices than those who usually underestimated their consumption. Past
research has also shown that families with children and teenagers are expected to use more
water, but older people who tend to spend more time at home have a higher water
consumption (Jorge, Vieria, Rebelo, Covas, 2015). Icaro Consulting (2013) highlights that
since many of the behaviours and activities regarding water are undertaken privately, they do
not become subjects to social norms. Without a specific reference point on what is considered
as normal water consumption, households tend to believe that their behaviour is average even
if their usage actually deviate from the norm.

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3.0 Theoretical framework
This chapter aims to present the theoretical framework that has been used to address the topic
of water usage behaviour. To understand water usage behaviour, this thesis has relied on
theories and concepts that are related to behaviour and attitudes. To clarify how these have
emerged, the first part of this chapter attempts to present theories of how the relationship
between humans and natural resources such as water has been formed. These are significant
since they affect behaviours and attitudes and have an importance in how the future is viewed
by people. The second part examines behaviour and attitude theories and how they have been
shaped by roots in historical experiences.

3.1 Relationship

3.1.1 Marxism and the environment

The consequences of economic growth have in modern times been underlined in the
Brundtland-report, where attempts of encouragement to relieve the impacts have been
featured (United Nations, 1987). It can be said that it has been recognized that economic
growth often puts increased pressure on environmental resources. Vietnam, being a country
known for its fast industrialization while claiming to have a socialist-marketed orientation,
can be characterized as a nation as where economic growth is causing increased pressure on
the environment.The connection between environmental deterioration and economic growth
is often highlighted by marxist theories and has therefore been identified to be of significance
in this thesis to further explore the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Marxian class theory on social class and class structure gives one perspective on how
environmental issues such as water pollution have emerged. The main analysis in Marxian
class theory was about the social conflict between the capitalists and the workers, but
Hannigan (2014) emphasizes that their theory have become the starting point for several
contemporary theories of the environment and is for this reason relevant in understanding the
relationship between humans and the natural world. The disappearing of humans empathy to
nature was explained by the increasing focus on profit and production, which according to
Marx should be held responsible for a range of social ills from overpopulation and resource
depletion to the alienation of people from the natural world (Hannigan, 2014). Water
pollution and overusing water could according to marxist thoughts be overlooked if there is a
gain somewhere else, in the form of monetary value. The connection between economic

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growth and ecological degradation have also been proven in practice as industrial wastewater
has been identified as one of the primary reasons for water pollution in Vietnam (Chau et al.
2015)

The central core of Marxian class theory was that mastery of nature should be viewed as a
human right which characterizes an anthropocentric view on the relationship (Hannigan,
2014). Within environmental ethics, anthropocentrism refers to an ethical framework that is
centered around human well-being (Kronlid, 2005). Based on this perspective, the nature is
seen as resources and only provides an instrumental value while humans have intrinsic value
(Stenmark, 2000). Improvements in the environment are mainly taken because of its positive
effects on human well-being, since antoprocentism advocates moral considerations to humans
solely (Stenmark, 2000). Water usage in modern societies require that humans think about
resources as a capital for human usage since its importance to social, cultural and economic
development are often highlighted. Given the theory on social class and structure, this thesis
presumes that people’s water usage behaviour are based on an anthropocentric view of
resources, which according to marxism has partly been shaped by increased focus on
production and economic growth.

3.1.2 Technofetischism
Marx (1909) emphasized the role of technology in modern industry and claimed that
capitalist production develops further technology to make production as efficient as possible.
Once a country has started its development on the foundation of modern industry, the more
rapid is the depletion of (original natural) sources. While Marx analysis were mainly in an
agricultural setting, the human ecologist Hornborg (2012) has analysed this standing point in
modern days and has identified an optimism towards technology that has spurred from
industrialization - also called technofetischism. As resources are draining, the belief in
technology being the solution to environmental problems keep on dominating. These set of
thoughts draws parallels with Connellys (2012) definition of the term ecological
modernisation, which is an interpretation of United Nations Brundland-report on sustainable
development from 1987. The mission of the commission was to unite nations to pursue
sustainable development, based on three pillars that strives for social, ecological and
economic sustainability (United Nations, 1987). According to Connelly (2012), ecological
modernisation as a school of thought allows for a mindset where people can keep their high-
consumption societies seeing that new efficient technology will eventually solve the caused

15
environmental damage. Connelly (2012) also claims that ecological modernisation and
technofetischism advocates green technology over consuming less. It is a given that adequate
water treatment plants are required to provide people with water for their basic needs since
water pollution is already an established issue in Vietnam, but it is also of relevance of to
identify attitudes based on which kind of mindsets people have about technology and
commodities, as these can affect their water usage behaviour.

3.2 Behaviour and attitudes

Nilsson & Martinsson (2012) claims that the last decades can be characterized by a drastic
change in how people perceive environmental problems and argue that there is a need to
understand attitudes towards all environmental issues, since this knowledge is essential when
solutions have to be provided for these upcoming challenges. To improve the understanding
of these behaviours, Lidskog & Sundqvist (2011) emphasizes that the ideological shift that
has occurred during the last 30-40 years has to be considered. Whereas ecological issues
earlier were the responsibility of the states and governments, the shift has today put the
market’s and consumer’s powers in the centre. The natural consequence of putting the
consumer’s powers in the centre becomes an increased focus on individualistic solutions.

3.2.1 Individualism

Many environmentalists argue that the belief of individualism being the main solution to
environmental problems, has derived from the fixation on economic growth and
industrialization. Shrader-Freschette (2006) and Connelly (2012) claim that people have been
influenced by neoclassical economics to behave in individualistic ways to reach the most
efficient and sustainable outcomes, which is based on Adam Smiths concept of the invisible
hand of the market. This has formed a belief that says ecological sustainability can be
achieved by individual actions. Given this, it is relevant to highlight individualism when
discussing environmental topics since it is often claimed to be an outcome of economic
growth. Together with the shift that has put the consumer’s powers in the centre, the choices
of individuals and consumer power has out of these reasons become more central when
discussing sustainable development (Lidskog & Sundqvist, 2011). Lidskog & Sundqvist
(2011) emphasizes that the freedom of individuals is in reality restricted even if they have
gotten more responsibility in acting environmental friendly. The problems are expected to be
solved by individuals, even though their choices are limited to the existing structures and

16
institutions. This is what Beck & Beck-Gernsheim (2002) calls institutionalised
individualism. They claim that the legal norms of the welfare state make individuals the
recipients of benefits, and not groups, and at the same time the social structure is forcing
people to make active choices even if they in many cases do not have enough knowledge to
make the best choice. Based on Beck et al. (2002) concept on institutionalised individualism,
it should be possible to identify which parts of a structure that prevents pro-environmental
behaviour and the ability to save water by studying individual perceptions. With water being
one of the world’s upcoming challenges in our industrialized societies, the concept of
individualism has to be included to get a better understanding in what has shaped certain
aspects of water usage behaviour and attitudes.

3.2.2 Rationality
Economic growth and theories of marxism lay ground for individualistic attitudes and
behaviours. With Shrader-Freschette (2006) and Connelly (2012) claiming that people are
guided by the invisible hand of the market, the individualistic mindset should results in
thoughts of achieving the most efficient outcome. This mindset is usually referred by
economists as human rationality. According to Thaler (2008), the consumer behaviour
theory, or rationality, is based on normative principles. Thaler (2008) elaborates that in
economic theory, agents are expected to act accordingly after characterizing the problem. The
use of resources and goods is therefore a calculation of the most efficient outcome and could
be determined by factors such as the price, benefits or time. The theory of rationality could
apply to water usage, since Gleick et al. (2002) claim that water is seen as a good with social,
economic and cultural values. Human rationality is however not exclusively used in
economic game theory. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) also maintain that people are essentially
rational and that it should be factored in when studying environmental behaviour. They claim
that people make systematic use of information that is available and that behaviour are not
capricious or thoughtless. Human rationality is therefore significant in understanding water
usage behaviour, since it is essential when studying environmental behaviour.

3.2.3 The theory of planned behaviour

Behaviour is usually thought of as connected with attitude, but Nilsson & Martinsson (2012)
claim the opposite and explain that there is usually a gap between attitudes and behaviours.
With this in mind, Ajzen (1991) introduced the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), which

17
explains how attitudes don’t always determine behaviour since other factors that affect the
intended action could prevent it.

Figure 3. Model of the theory of planned behaviour (Orzanna, 2015)

In TPB, Ajzen (1991) proposes three conceptually independent determinants of intention.

The first is the attitude towards the behaviour and refers to whether the individual has a
favourable or unfavourable evaluation or appraisal of a certain behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). The
second predictor is termed subjective norms and refers to the perceived social pressure to
perform or not perform the behaviour. According to Nilsson & Martinsson (2012), the social
pressure is often created by how an individual's peers and other people of importance, would
feel about the individual engaging in a particular behaviour. The third determining factor is
perceived behavioural control, which regards the individual’s perception of their ability to
actually perform a given behaviour. The perceived behavioural control could reflect past
experience or anticipated impediments and obstacles (Ajzen, 1991). Ajzen’s TPB is often
used to predict behaviours and will in this thesis be used as a tool to identify the factors that
affect people’s water usage and their attitudes towards water savings behaviour. The
identified factors that matter in water savings and minimizing behaviour, will additionally
give an improved understanding of the gap between intention and behaviour.

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4.0 Methodology

4.1 Research design of the case study

A case study approach was chosen and the fieldwork was executed in the city of Hai Phong,
located in northern Vietnam. The city has a dense river network and with the trend of
increasing urbanization, the potential applicability of the results was identified to be relevant
for other fast growing cities in Vietnam. According to Robson & McCartan, case studies is
usually executed within social research and focus within a phenomenon in a context. This
research concerns water usage behaviour as a phenomenon with an urban context and is the
reasoning for performing a case study. The field study was planned with a flexible design in
mind and is according to Robson & McCartan (2016) commonly used in case studies. Due to
its explorative nature, the use of semi-structured, individual face-to-face interviews was the
primarily execution method, which concentrated on the collection of qualitative data. The
second part of the study was the use of seven day-water diaries. The interviews and the water
diaries were complemented by observations. The process of triangulation was used, which
Bryman (2011) defines as research involving several multiple data sources. The method for
this study can also be considered to be of multi-strategy design.

The structure of the water diaries were fixed, but during the process, the interview guides
were altered since the experiences during the early stage of data-gathering provided new
topics and ways of approaching the respondents. Some subjects were added while some were
removed. An example of a removal was the question “Do you have a water meter”, which
was included in the original interview guide (see appendix 1). After a few respondents, it was
clear that all households in the city had water meters installed at home so the water
companies can collect their bills. The questions in the interview guide were thoroughly used
in the first interviews. The second version of the interview started with an open-ending
question by letting the respondents describe their routines, that include water, during a day
(see appendix 2). This was a way of getting into the topic more easily and to let the flow and
change of topics during the conversations become more natural. Later in the process, the
interview guide became more of a support over topics that had to be brought up, but were not
followed thoroughly. The execution of the field work can therefore be considered to have two
phases. The empirical gathering was made during eight weeks, between March and April.

19
4.2 Sampling

The field work included a total of 15 interviews, and the same respondents received the water
diary. The sample consisted out of ten women and five men with an age range from 18 to 57.
Two observations with two of the interviewed respondents complemented the study. A
comfort selection was firstly used as my contact person in Vietnam provided me with
suggestions on potential householders in her network. The only criteria was that the
respondents had to be residents of the city of Hai Phong. Some of the respondents were
recruited by snowball-sampling. Due to this kind of sampling, the sample can be considered
as relatively homogeneous. The sample included two students, three retired respondents, one
self-employed and the rest were employed by governmental institutions or private companies.
All respondents lived in houses where someone in the household owned the house. Despite
the fact that the socio-economic attribute of income can affect household water usage
behaviour, the respondents were not asked about their income due to the sensitivity of the
subject. Based on the interviews and the interviews and their occupations, none of the
respondents were considered to suffer from poverty. Bryman (2011) emphasizes that results
from this kind of sampling are usually not representative for a population, and is rather used
in qualitative research strategies than quantitative research. The problems of using a
convenience sample has been taken into consideration when generalizing and discussing the
applicability of the results, but on the grounds that this thesis concerns a qualitative research
area, interpreting and analyzing the data have not been interfered by the homogenous traits of
the sample.

4.3 Execution of the semi-structured interviews

The interviews were made in Vietnamese without a translator and were recorded with a
device with the respondents approvals. Notes were taking during the sessions, but re-listening
to the recordings were made after the interviews and selected parts were transcribed. Most of
the sessions were carried out in my contact person’s home environment, as setting meetings
at the respondent’s own homes were time consuming and difficult for many of them. A few
of the sessions were held at the householder’s homes. To carry out the interviews in a home
environment also allowed for a calmer surroundings for the respondents due to its possibility
for privacy, which also made the recordings easier. Having the interviews in another
environment than a room with the availability too shut the doors were not considered, as there
were constantly noises from traffic in the urban environment of Vietnam, which would have

20
disturbed both the respondent and the recordings. This was an important factor as Bryman
(2011) stresses that a calm environment is important during interviews since it allows the
respondents to think and speak without getting their thoughts interrupted. The interviews
were held at different times of the day, and were suggested by the respondents depending on
when they had free time avoid stress; usually in the lunch hours, the evenings and on
weekends. After the interviews, the water diaries were handed out together with oral
instructions.

4.4 The design of the water diaries

Surveys has been a common way of collecting data regarding household water use in the
research I have cited previously, but Bryman (2011) claims that using diaries as a data
collection is more reliable than using only surveys. Robson & McCartan (2106) also suggests
using diaries as a research tool when studying activities over time. The diary was composed
out of three parts; including a questionnaire asking for background facts, a structured part
with a fixed question and a form of free journal (see appendix 3 & 4). The respondents were
firstly asked about their daily water-related routines while the second part allowed them to
write freely about anything related to water. Robson & McCartan (2016) highlights that
diaries often places a great deal of responsibility on the respondent, which required that the
diary was designed in a user-friendly way to avoid non-responses. To minimize the risks of
non-responses, the diary started with a set of fixed alternative questions, with the purpose of
simplifying for the respondent to come up with ideas for the second part. The purpose of the
second part was to let the respondents write freely about their water activities, at their own
pace in their free time, as it was presumed that some thoughts and habits could be missed
during the interviews. The design of the water diaries were partly inspired by a former water
diary performed by Bishop (2015) in Zambia where the respondents were allowed to keep a
free journal, which was successful in facilitating qualitative and emotional aspects of their
water usage behaviour. The rest of the diary was designed by myself as a researcher in order
to require necessary information that matches my research questions.

4.5 Complementary observations

Although observations were not a part of the primarily execution methods, it did work as
complement to the field study as Agar (1996) argues that observations are important and
should work with the interviews during field work. To get a better understanding of the

21
respondents routines and habits, observations were made in two of the householders homes
and pictures were taken with the respondents permissions. The observations were made with
the help of the respondents guidance and they were providing with their own knowledge and
reasonings about the topic. The interviews and the observations with the two respondents
were made at two separate occasions, with the semi-structured interviews executed firstly.
Notes were not taken during the observations, but summaries after the execution of the
observations were written directly after the sessions. The photographs and the summaries
were further analysed later in the research process.

4.7 Interpreting the data

A grounded theory approach was conducted which according to Bryman (2011) is a method
where the analyzing process is parallelled with the process of empirical gathering. A brief
theoretical framework was established in the early stages of the study, but the grounded
theory approach allowed for new concepts and theories to take place during the execution of
the field study. After each interview, selected parts of the session was transcribed while
complementing notes and comments were taken to ease the analyzing process. The
transcriptions and the daily entries from the water diaries were thematized and categorized,
accordingly to Hjerm, Lindgren & Nilsson’s (2014) method, by identifying codes that could
be potential themes that were relevant for the research questions. Parts of the interview guide
were however formed to find the three pillars of TPB, regarding attitudes, subjective norms
and perceived behavioural control. The summaries of the observations worked as a
complement in understanding the analysis of the empirical material. The data from the
surveys were presented in a table to summarize both demographic characteristics and
qualitative data that was related to the respondents perceptions.

22
5.0 Empirical findings
The purpose of this chapter is to present the empirical findings from my field study in Hai
Phong, Vietnam. The findings are based on the semi-instructed interviews, the water diaries
and the observations. The respondents will be referred to as R1-R15 to ensure anonymity.
The water diaries were written in Vietnamese by the participants of the study, but the quotes
in this section have been translated into English. The results will be presented in three
sections. The first one will give an overview over the housing living environment of the
respondents, the second one addresses the results with direct connection to their actual water
usage behaviour, and the third section presents topics related to the respondents attitudes and
thoughts.

5.1 Structures of the houses

To give the reader a better understanding on the householders water activities, this section
aims to present the different types of equipment and structures of the homes that affect
householders routines. The respondents use of equipment will eventually explain parts of the
householders water usage routines, since the use of these are based on their thoughts and
opinions. All respondents get their water from one of the water treatment plants (WTP)
situated in Hai Phong and do not use any other sources for their indoor water use. They all
have piped connection from the WTP:s and access to tap water in their houses. Based on the
data from the interviews and the observations, two types of water piping connections were
identified:

❏ Houses with directly piped connection from the WTP:s to their taps
❏ Houses with an external or built-in water tank (see Figure 4 & 5).

The difference between houses with water tanks and the houses that used the water directly
from the piped connections, is that the former mentioned use the process of storing the water
before usage. R1 explained that while his household had a built-in tank, it is quite common
that other households have external water tanks on their roof. He also explained that some
household used none of these, but that these were not as prepared if the WTP:s suddenly cut
the water the households due to shortage or maintenance of the plants.

23
Figure 4. An external water tank on a house Figure 5. Picture of several tanks on a house.
roof.

To use a water tank, the houses require two sets of pipe connections; one set that makes the
water connection to the actual tank possible, and additional set of pipes from the tank to the
taps and the filter machines in the households. When turning the taps on, the water runs from
the storing tank instead of directly from the water treatment plants. Thsee tanks are
configured so that it refills with new water when it starts to get empty. This way, there will
always be reserve stock of water in case of shortages or cuts.

Figure 6. A built-in water tank in the home Figure 7. Picture showing the inside of the
of R1. built-in water tank.

R1 explained that there are two main reasons for his household to find benefits in using a
water tank. Firstly, the water feels safer to use when it has had the time to condense and sit
for while before usage. He perceives that the chlorine and other treatment substances that the

24
WTP:s use have had time to disappear. The second reason is that having a storing works as a
backup plan if the water treatment plants cuts the water connection. Two of the respondents
(R1 & R2) has experienced many cuts from the water treatment plants in the past and feels
safer with having a reserve water supply. Nowadays they usually get a notice about the
expected cuts and it does not happen as regularly, but it still serves the same purpose when
cuts occur.

5.1.1 Water meters setting limits

All of the respondents have water meters in their houses as the WTP:s require this equipment
to collect the water bills. The water meters are installed by the plants and monthly bills are
paid by the residents. R4 explained that the amount of water usage was displayed in cubic
meters on the bills and that she had also connected her phone number to the water company’s
billing system. This made it possible for her to check the price and amount before the actual
billing. While showing the texts on the phone to prove her unusually high water usage
amount she said: “See here, we use very much water. 23 m3 this month, 21 last month and 22
the month before. There is even one month with 28 m3. We use much and it is expensive
too.” (Personal communication, March 15, 2018).

There was a general agreement among the respondents that the water meters were helpful in
keeping their water usage on a regular level. R2 and R3 were the only ones checking the
actual physical meter regularly, while R8 explained: “I don’t feel that I need to check my
water meter at all because the water bill provides me with roughly the same amount every
month” (Personal communication, March 27, 2018). The rest of the respondents did not
check the actual meter either and merely relied on the amount on the bill. Since the
respondents were so aware of their average monthly usage, they could easily detect possible
problems if the amount of water usage suddenly rose. R1, R8 and R13 explained that it could
be caused by dripping taps or leakages in the pipes, while R14’s felt that the sudden rise in
water use could be caused by the water meter being broken.

5.2 Behaviour

5.2.1 Chores and everyday activity

Based on the diaries and the interviews, a common structured daily schedule was identified
when the respondents were asked to tell about a regular day. The respondents who had work

25
or school departed in the morning; all of them went home in the lunch hours to eat and rest,
usually between eleven and two p.m., and went back to work until evening. The three main
activities that the respondents perceived as most water consuming were the three meals of the
day that outlined a daily structure: breakfast, lunch and evening dinner. The respondents who
were retired (R5, R8 & R14) usually had the same structure, but the time between the main
meals were dedicated to either household chores or other leisure activities. While R4 claimed
that she and her family usually ate breakfast at diners, all respondents seemed to usually eat
and prepare the three meals at home at weekdays, not including activities out of the ordinary
everyday life. The activities around breakfast and evening dinner included personal hygiene
activities such as brushing teeth and showering. The majority of the respondents mentioned
that washing clothes and cleaning the house were mostly occurred during the weekend when
they had time off from work. With the daily schedule of having lunch hours off, it was
established that many respondents had enough time to do household chores during these
hours. The diaries of several respondents confirmed that free time from work or school often
meant more time for household chores. R12 wrote on day six: “I did not have to go to school
this afternoon. I stayed at home and helped my mother clean the house and mop the floor.”

5.2.2 Food preparation

It was concluded that the respondents consume a high amount vegetables and most of the
respondents seemed to be aware of how water consuming their preparations for cooking the
three meals were, even the ones who usually were not responsible for this certain household
chore. Two respondents (R11 & R12) did however not mention this activity at all. With R12
being a high school student, she did not seem to be aware of the water usage, or the majority
of the everyday chores in her household. The vegetables were usually prepared in the same
way by all respondents who talked about water usage in food preparation; first step was to let
the vegetables sit in a tub of water so all of the dirt sinks to the bottom; the second step was
to re-wash the vegetables in new water. They all usually went through the same process
(except R11 & R12), but the amount of times washing the greens could differ, i.e. R2 re-
washed the greens twice after letting it sit in water before cooking, while R8 would let it sit in
water, wash the greens, let it sit in water again and washing it a few times before it felt clean.
An overall cautious mindset against food was acknowledged. When talking about vegetables
and fruits, R8 differentiated between two terms: “There are two types of “clean”. One that
you can see with your eyes and the other that is not visible, such as pesticides” (R8, personal
communication, April 27, 2018) Most of the respondents referred to “clean” vegetables and

26
fruits like R8, which is the exact translation, but its meaning is clean from pesticides and is
used similarly to the term “organic”. In addition to making the food clean from visible dirt,
the second main reason for washing the vegetables so thoroughly was due to the fear of
pesticides and other toxic substances that were believed to be used when growing the
vegetables. When talking about clean vegetables, R8 also drew parallels with the
characteristics of water, that there is a fear about both the visible and the invisible pollution in
the water.

The water-diary of R2 indicates that the type of vegetable is decisive in how much water the
respondent perceives that she uses, depending on the vegetable being a leafy kind or not.
During all seven days, a short note about her daily food preparations were listed. This may
also indicate that preparing food is perceived as one of her most water-consuming activities.
Following quotes are excerpts from her water diary:
Day 1: Today’s vegetables was chrysanthemum greens. The time for washing
was long.
Day 2: This evening I ate cooked kohlrabi (with leafs). I used a small amount
of water.

5.2.3 Seasonal aspects

When the respondents were asked in the interviews about the differences on their water usage
depending on seasons, most of them stated that the differences were insignificant. R13
claimed that more water might be used for showering and chores concerning personal
hygiene in the summer, but winter temperatures usually meant more washing clothes than in
the summers which balanced the water usage to a similar amount. On day six of R13’s diary,
he wrote: “Why have these couple of days been so hot? It has forced me to shower several
times a day.” R4 stated that she did not feel that the water usage differed a lot depending on
the season since her family always used a lot, but an excerpt from her diary suggests that
weather matter in her water usage: “Day four - Monday: I was going to wait until tomorrow
to wash my clothes, but it suddenly became so sunny today so I took all the bedsheets to
wash one set”. R14 also claimed that there was not a significant difference depending on the
weather, but wrote similarly to R4 on day six of her diary: “Today it was a little bit sunny, I
took the opportunity again to machine wash our thin duvets and to clean and scrub the two
bathrooms.”

27
5.3 Attitudes

5.3.1 Trust issues

None of the interviewed persons used the water directly without either boiling or filtering
before using it for eating or drinking. Some did only boil the water before usage, and some
did only filter, but most of the respondents combined these methods and boiled the water
after filtering it. There seemed to be an agreement on the trustworthiness of boiling as the
most safe water treatment. One of the respondents who had a filtering machine expressed:
“Even if they encourage drinking it directly after filtering it, I still don’t believe them. I have
to still always boil.” (R14, personal communication, April 2, 2018), while another one
expressed similarly: “The people who sell filtering systems and tablets claim that the water
can be drunk directly after filtering, but I don’t trust them. I always have to boil the water
too.” (R1, personal communication, March 13, 2018). The lack of trust in the ability of these
systems were expressed by several respondents, which made the water treatment process a
two-step process for many of them to ensure safety of health. One respondent elaborated this
trust issue with a different angle:
The filtering systems and technology for treating water is actually very
advanced, clean and of high quality now, but the thing is that a product has to
follow the right rules of the companies to work well. But today there are a few
people who take advantage of that (belief), so they sell fake products. So of
course, water filtering systems are not safe to use and there’s no way for a
regular person to check if that water is good or not (R13, personal
communication, April 1, 2018).

Water that had been filtered in filter systems were however also considered as the best by
several respondents since they stated that filtered water was the most high quality and
cleanest one. Regarding water quality, R11 expressed what the majority of the respondents
felt: “There aren’t any better water sources anyway” (Personal communication, March 23,
2018) and R4 expressed that she in reality does not trust the water from the WTP at all, but
does whatever she can to make it feel cleaner by both filtering and boiling the water before
usage.

Regarding drinking water, none of the respondents, except one, bought bottled water on a
regular basis. R11 was the only respondent who purchased big amounts of pre-filtered bottled
water to his household. He did not use a filtering system at home, but did complement the
pre-filtered water with boiling water. The majority of the respondents had termoses and cans

28
with water that they filtered and boiled on their own, and were used when needed. Most of
the respondents also had cans with green tea, and drank this more regularly than still water.
Another trust issue was identified when R9 was asked about the opinion on bottled water: “I
can not trust that the quality of bottled water. It might not be filtered and safe, it could just as
easily be water directly from the taps.” (Personal communication, March 27, 2018).

5.3.2 Knowledge and traditions

Many of the respondents had a connection the rural areas, with either having relatives living
there or being born there themselves. R4 was one of the respondents who had frequently
contact with rurality and said that she visit her childhood home in more rural parts of Hai
Phong every weekend. There are some indications that parts of the respondents opinions and
knowledge about agriculture and water have originated from their connections to rural areas.
R14 stated:
When I visit my brother who lives in the country, they have a garden with
clean vegetables. Their vegetables have always been damaged by plant pests.
So when I see that I can compare and know that the ones we buy at the market
contain a lot of pesticides. To keep a good health for the family, we have to do
it like that. We have to wash the vegetables several times.” (Personal
communication, April 2, 2018).

When asked about the source of knowledge for their water treatment habits, such as boiling,
several answered that there are no specific origin. They just do it because family members
have always done it. After further conversation, a few (R10, R13 & R14) mentioned school
as a source of knowledge. One specific expression that they remember specifically from
teachers and parents during their childhoods was “eat cooked, drink boiled”, which in
practice means that food always have to be cooked thoroughly, and water always has to be
boiled, to be safely consumed. The respondents claimed that these treatment routines go back
to their grandparents generation and they just follow the tradition because it has always been
the routines in the households. In addition to the tradition, the feeling of treating the water
generated a feeling of safety. R3 explained that her habit of treating water did not originate
from family: “We did not always boil or treat water before drinking. My husband who works
with a water treatment came home one day and told me he had heard that filtering and boiling
water before using is more safe. So we started to do that” (Personal communication, March
14, 2018).

29
R1, R3, R12 & R10 highlighted that the government usually send out notices and updates on
media, such as television and on the internet, about polluted and unsafe water sources, other
updates on the current water situation and how to treat water in a safe way before
consumption. Furthermore, they expressed that they feel that the government make an effort
in improving the water sources for the residents. R1’s opinion on the matter matched several
of the respondents thoughts: “Of course the government cares about this environmental issue,
water is necessary for life and survival on earth” (Personal communication, March 13, 2018).

5.3.3 Water savings contra water minimizing

When the respondents were asked about the differents ways they saved water, several stated
that they reuse the released water from the washing machine. Instead of letting the water get
drained, they lead the pipe to a tub so the water could be used to wash another set of clothes
or other cleaning chores. This water was perceived as usable and clean. After one of the
observations, another saving routine was identified at R14’s house. Her household had
invested in a filtering machine, allowing six litres of filtered water, out of ten litres input of
water, to be used as drinking water. The four litres of wastewater was allocated by the
household to be drained in a tub in their bathroom (see figure 8 & 9). R14 expressed that this
rest water was visibly dirty by looking at the colour, but was perceived as usable for cleaning
chores.

Figure 8. A filtering machine installed by Figure 9. The connecting draining pipe from
the wall next to the bathroom. the filtering machine to a tub in the bathroom

There was a distinct differentiation between “saving” and “minimizing” water by several
respondents. The behaviour of saving water included reusing water or not letting excess
amounts of water going to waste without the water being used by them. Several respondents

30
claimed that they tried to avoid “wasteful” water usage behaviour even if they did not put
much effort in minimizing the their water use. The thoughts that were dominated by the
majority of the householders regarding the differentiation was summarized by R14: “I don’t
really think about minimizing or saving water because, because we need it to get a safe and
clean environment. I only try to use enough so I don’t have to waste water.” (R14, personal
communication, 2 April, 2018). They also expressed that they would like to use less water to
mainly relieve the water bills, and to save on natural resources as a complement, but other
factors are more highly prioritized. R13 explained:
Everyone wants to be able to minimize water, but there is other things to
consider, like treating food, because they are not safe, so we have to increase
water use. But I do feel that methods of re-using water is also one kind of way
to save and minimize water (Personal communication, April 1, 2018).

R4 highlighted her own water usage in a household context and claimed that sometimes she
tried to minimize her own water usage, but her husband uses higher amounts for personal
hygiene while her children wasted a lot of water while playing. Sometimes she tried to tell
them to not waste, but she expressed that the water that goes to waste is beyond her powers
since her husband has his own will while the children will always want to play. R10 and R11
who also have children, feel that their children use water in a wasteful way but consider this
as a playful behaviour. Furthermore, R4 prioritized the safety of health and well-being over
water minimizing. She explained that the water could occasionally smell to much chlorine
and felt the need to let the tap water run for several second before using it, even for tasks that
not require direct consumption, i.e. brushing her teeth. When talking about water minimizing,
R4 expresses: “It smells so much, how am I supposed to minimize my water use?” (Personal
communication, March 15, 2018).

While several of the respondents claimed that they put more energy in reusing water and not
wasting water, R2 actively turned of the water flow to her households external water tank
every evening before bedtime, and turned it back on at noon the next day. The water used
between these times was the water that her external tank, of one cubic meter, could withhold.
Her reasoning was:
I feel that the amount of water my family use is average, because I have seen
my neighbours use more water. They have a tank on the roof like us too, but
their tanks often get too full and the water runs over. But since we lock our
water, there will not be any waste of water. I think that my neighbours doing
that is wasteful and that is exactly the reason why my own family feel that we

31
 have to learn from this lesson and hinder it by locking the water. (R2, personal
communication, March 14, 2018).

5.4 Perceptions of water consumption

This section will present the respondents’ perceptions of their water consumption. With the
help of the water meters and the frequent monthly billing, all of the respondents were aware
of their average monthly water usage. Based on the interviews, it was possible to interpret
their perceptions on the amount of their water usage. Four categories were identified: little or
moderate water usage, normal or average water usage, much water usage and very much
water usage. The actual average monthly water usage was based on the respondents answers
during the interviews and were then divided by the number of residents in the household to
get a number on an approximate daily average per person.

Table 1. A description of the respondents, their demographic characteristics and their perceptions on
their own water usage, based on the survey from the water diaries and the answers from the semi-
structured interviews (Nghiem, 2018).

The table shows that respondents who perceived their water usage as high (R3, R4, R7 &
R15) has an average of more than 100 litres per day. The respondent with the highest average
water usage (R11) perceived his water usage as normal even if the amount is much higher
than the rest of the respondents. R11 owns a own washing business and provided washing
services of clothes, sheets and textiles, but separated the water usage for the household and
for his work. The respondent who perceived their water usage as very high (R4) also claimed
that her children contributed to this e.g. their fondness of water resulted in her using more

32
water when showering and bathing them. While ten of the respondents considered their water
usage as normal and average, R1 was the only respondent perceiving his water usage as little
and moderate. This perception has been retrieved by comparing his water usage with other
households, but he also highlighted that the amount can differ, even if it mostly lands on
seven cubic meters, and depends on whether he and his wife spent much time at home or not.
This perception was agreed by R12 who stated: I think our water use is average since our
family members are not home a lot. Everyone is at school or work all day, so the amount
becomes less.” (Personal communication, April 1). R6 mentioned that she sometimes could
save her water usage by letting the whole family wash their hair at a salon. R8 felt that his
water usage was normal, but also claimed that he did not have the possibility to compare the
actual amount with someone else and only estimated by feeling. Several respondents
expressed similarly to R8 regarding estimating their water usage. When talking about other
households, R8 highlighted: “There is of course reasons to why their water bills are lower.
Some people in my neighbourhood shower at their workplace, so their consumption and bill
at home naturally becomes lower.” (Personal communication, March 27, 2018). Furthermore,
some respondents added on the same topic that they sometimes are able to minimize their
households water usage by showering at their workplaces.

R7 explained her perception of her water usage by stating that her mother has certain washing
and water usage routines that require more water, in which she has to follow her self:
I feel that my household uses a lot of water since my mom is careful with
washing clothes. She divides the clothes thoroughly and uses different
programs for each kind of fabric, so the machines might never get full. At the
same that I feel that this wastes a lot of water, our clothes lasts much longer
and we do not have to buy new clothing constantly. (Personal communication,
March 15, 2018). communication, April 1).

In other words, she felt that the lengthened lifetime of their clothing compensated for
the extra used water.

33
6.0 Analysis & Discussion
Based on the empirical gatherings, the respondents’ attitudes, perceptions and their actual
water usage behaviour will be further examined and analysed in this chapter. The analysis
will be presented with support from earlier cited research and the theoretical framework used
for this thesis.

6.1 Water usage behaviour

The interpretation of the respondents actual water usage behaviour will be presented in the
following section.

6.1.1 Tracking

The general awareness, of the exact amount of water that the householders use themselves,
was identified as a helpful attitude and tool for keeping a regular amount of water use in the
household. The habit of tracking the average monthly water usage make the respondents alert
on any changes in their usual usage (see 5.1.1). While the habit contributes to a cautious
mind, the respondents are also able to set limits with the help of the water meters. The water
meters allows the respondents to translate their water usage into a number, and can by this
method compare it with the actual perception of their water usage, to determine if they should
minimize or increase the whole households amount of water usage. This eases the difficulty
in translating actual behaviour to water consumption that Icaro Consulting (2013) underlines
(see 2.9). While the identified difficulty in translating behaviour does not concern judging
single routines to estimate the effort of water saving behaviour as Icaro Consulting discusses,
the possibility of tracking still increases the respondents possibilities of understanding their
own water usage behaviour in numbers. Despite a high indication of water usage awareness,
setting limits does not automatically mean that the householders will set moderate or low
limits. The perception of using enough water and the billing are still of importance. The water
usage has to meet the living standards of the individuals while the monthly billing has to be
affordable. Nonetheless, being able to keep track on the monthly water usage, has a potential
of becoming a water savings mechanism.

6.1.2 Cautiousness

The respondents habits of keeping filtered and boiled water in thermoses indicate on a habit
that unconsciously creates a water savings routine (see 5.3.1). Using thermoses can be seen as

34
a routine that makes less excess water go to waste. The tap water goes directly to the boiling
utensil, or the filtering machine, and is then transferred to the thermoses. The water is later
used by the respondents in the exact amounts that are needed. The attitude that has shaped
this habit is determined by the lack of trust in the quality of the water, and from the need of
convenience. Having readily filtered water is efficient in time while it provides safe water for
consumption. There is minimal excess water going to waste since there is no need to let the
tap water flow to reach a desired temperature. An overall cautious mind was identified as an
attitude that leads to a water saving habits. This behaviour can also be considered as Thaler’s
(2008) and Fishbein’s and Ajzen’s (1975) definition av rational behaviour, since combining
cautiousness and time-savings while creating convenience is the results of the habit. The
respondents may not be aware of it, but it is a calculation of the most efficient outcome. The
cautiousness also leads to respondents wanting to have reserve tanks due to trust issues
towards the water treatment plans and is based on past experiences. It should however not be
forgotten that the cautious mind can also lead to overusing water since the respondents show
fear of contaminated water affecting health, which increases water use (see 5.3.3).

6.2 Trust issues affecting attitudes

From the respondents signs of cautiousness, trust issues was also confirmed to affect the
attitudes of the respondents, which then in turn shapes the actual behaviour. It was earlier
suggested that trust issues have an impact on how Vietnamese householders use their water
(see 2.6). Based on Vietnam’s historical experiences, it was posited that unstable institutional
trust would affect the residents way of using water. The empirical data proved that the
institutional trust was greater than expected and the majority of respondents felt that the
government cares about water as a natural resource and put effort in treating it for the
residents (see 5.3.2). The empirical data do however suggest that the lack of interpersonal
trust among the respondents has a greater impact on water usage behaviour than the lack of
institutional trust. Jorgensen et al. (2009) suggested that the interpersonal trust issues in water
usage behaviour was about peers of the individual affecting the own individual’s water
minimizing, but the identified interpersonal trust issues in the empirical findings concerned
situations related to economic activities. Trust issues regarding food and technology and
other activities concerning retrieving another objects and goods from vendors or other
individuals had a great impact on single householders water usage.

35
The respondents’ trust issues can be considered to be a result of economic growth and
individualism since the trust issues usually arise when exchanging goods with another peer,
such as food, filtering machines and bottled water. In the discussion of individualism (see
3.2.1), Beck-Gernsheim et al. (2002) states that this mindset makes individuals believe they
are single recipient of benefits instead of in groups, and the results show that the respondents
seem to have this belief too. The respondents expresses that they in many cases can not trust
another individuals in an economic situation because of the belief that the opposite part will
act individualistically for a higher income, without concern for the buying part (see 5.3.1).
This trust issue results in an overall more cautious mind, which in food treatment requires
more water for washing, or in water treatment means still complementing water filtering
machines with the act of boiling water. These interpersonal trust issues are identified as a
major motive for increasing the amount in householders water usage routines, which also
means more water use and energy consuming actions. Furthermore, trust issues towards
technology as water filtering machines and water meters were acknowledged. The first
mentioned is an additional outcome from a lack of interpersonal trust, since the trust issues
towards filtering machine is actually a lack of trust in the people manufacturing the products.
Optimism towards technology can be considered as quite high based on the general opinion
on treated water being the most high quality (see 5.3.1), but the techno optimism is in conflict
with the interpersonal trust issues, with the latter being the determining factor in water usage
behaviour.

6.3 Water minimizing behaviour

The factors that matter in the behaviour of water saving and water minimizing was analysed
by identifying the determining factors in the three pillars of Ajzen’s TPB (see figure 3). Since
the respondents differentiated between these two behaviours, it was also possible to identify
different attitudes towards these behaviours which results in different intentions.

6.3.1 Attitude towards the behaviour

The attitude towards water savings behaviour was generally positive among the respondents.
There was an agreement on the behaviour of not wasting unnecessary amount of water, e.g.
letting water taps running without the water getting used at least once, being positive. The
attitude towards the behaviour of water minimizing did however not receive such a high
degree of appraisal compared to the behaviour of saving water. The behaviour of minimizing

36
water use was more unfavourable due to the preference of keeping a healthy, safe and clean
lifestyle, which the respondents felt they could achieve with more water usage. Living in
clean homes and asserting safe water consumption in the households was prioritized higher
than minimizing the amount of water they use (see 5.3.3). The gap between attitude and
behaviour is therefore increased by the more negatively attitude towards the behaviour of
water minimizing. Based on this viewpoint, the value of water as a resource seem to have an
instrumental value, accordingly to Stenmark’s (2000) definition of the concept. The
relationship between water and resources is concluded to be based on an anthropocentric
viewpoint, since wasting water is frowned upon because the value of water have not had the
chance to be used by humans. Saving water is in other words an anthropocentric act in this
context since wasting water is considered as wasting opportunities of using the resource for
the own well-being.

6.3.2 Subjective norms

The second determining factor for an intention was the role of subjective norms. The
respondents did not express any perceived social pressure in having a water minimizing water
behaviour. The role of cleanliness seem to matter higher than minimizing water and based on
the statements of several respondents, presenting clean homes to themselves and their peers
were of more importance. The behaviour of keeping it cleanly was highly prioritized since it
was associated with safety in health. Despite the lacking social pressure regarding water
minimizing behaviour, the unconsciously perceived social pressure from family members
seemed to have a more significant role in water treatment (boiling). The statements about
traditions and taking over habits regarding water treatment from former generation posits
strong indication on cultural aspects being determining in water usage behaviour (see 5.3.2).
This confirms Rajecki’s (1982) explanation on normative influences as a determining cause
in behaviour as Rajecki states that cultural traditions and family customs affects intentions
and behaviours. The respondents in the study have not experienced influences in cultural
traditions regarding water minimizing habits, but shows potential of the current generation
being able to set an example for their own children and people in their surroundings since
cultural traditions have an influence in shaping behaviour. Some of the respondents expressed
that their children used the most water (see 5.3.3), and with family customs being a potential
strong determinants of intention, there is a possibility for the adults to pass on water
minimizing habits, presuming that they possess these habits as well. Even if cultural customs
have proven to strong in determining water usage behaviour and shows great potential for

37
coming generations, the behaviour of water minimizing is not strongly rooted in the
respondents’ own current behaviour.

6.3.3 Perceived behavioural control

The perceived behaviour control among the respondents was generally weak. One common
reason was that the behaviour of water minimizing seemed futile since the whole households
water usage was determined by the other family members (see 5.3.3 & 5.3.4). The control
was determined by other people and even if there in some cases indicated on an attitude of
wanting to minimize water, the behaviour was regarded as ineffective. The perceived
behavioural control is therefore not determined by a single person’s own attitude, but how the
person perceives behaviours and attitudes of the whole household. The conclusion is that the
behaviour control is often prevented by the anticipated obstacles from household members
and generates a powerlessness in the individual’s own behaviour control. The only
respondent showing signs of perceived behaviour control in water minimizing did this with
helping instruments in the house (see 5.3.2). The simple habit of turning the tap off and
acquiring a water tank resulted in major water savings source.

6.3.4 Economic factors

It is concluded that economic factors is the main driver for water minimizing and saving
behaviour since the respondents listed this as the most important factor (see 5.3.3). It has
also been concluded that the respondents show signs of thinking rationally based on time (see
6.1.2), accordingly to the definition by Thaler (2008) and & Ajzen (1975). In addition to this,
the rationality includes the importance of water pricing, but despite the will of saving water,
other factors such as cleanliness and safety in health, are of more importance. The price of
water is therefore relatively inelastic since the respondents feel that higher prices are
acceptable if it matches their needs. Economic factors do however still work as a driver for
minimizing water usage.

38
Figure x. Own model of the theory planned behaviour, applied to water minimizing and savings
behaviour and is based on the empirical gatherings. The model shows the determining factors that
explain the gap between intention and behaviour. (Nghiem, 2018).

6.4 Knowledge and traditions

It was concluded in chapter 6.2.2 that family customs and cultural traditions have an impact
on water usage behaviour. Knowledge and traditions can be included into Rajecki’s (1982)
definition of cultural traditions and has been identified as factors that affects both attitudes
and behaviour. The traditions were not a significant determining factor when it comes to
water minimizing and savings behaviour, but there was an indication on it having influences
in water treatment behaviour. The proverb “eat cooked, drink boiled” is a sign of an
onpassing tradition. To boil water before drinking is strongly rooted in the respondents’
habits and since it has been advocated throughout childhood, people still boil their water,
sometimes even after filtering it which also shows a mistrust in technology. In addition to
cultural traditions, the respondents’ knowledge about certain topics seem to have derived
from their connection to rural villages (see 5.3.2). The lacking trust in the quality of food and
agriculture is included in this mistrust. Since the majority of the respondents seemed to still
have close connection to rural societies, it is confirmed that Vietnam is still under a state with
fast developing industrialization with urbanisation as an effect. Concerning general
knowledge about water treatment and water sources, many of the respondents seem to acquire

39
information from media channels (see 5.3.2) which confirms PATH’s (2011) conclusion on
marketing and information being a relevant source of influence on behaviours in Vietnam.

6.5 Perceptions
This section is based on the results that is presented in chapter 5.4. Based on the report by
VSWA (2010) on the average daily water consumption in Hai Phong between 2007 and
2009, the average consumption per capita was around 100 litres per day (see 2.4). Larger
cities were estimated to reach 120 to 130 litres while smaller cities reached 80 to 90 litres per
day. The results show that the majority (12 out of 15) of the respondents had a higher average
than 100 litres and indicate on increased amount of consumption compared to 2007 and 2009.
Only 7 out of 15 respondents reached the average for larger cities which, and 10 out of 15
perceived their water usage as normal. The majority used less than the average for larger
cities while at the same time estimated their water usage to be average. It should however be
highlighted that Icaro Consulting’s (2013) results regarding householders lacking a specific
reference point on what is considered as normal water consumption is confirmed by the
results of this study. Many of the respondents felt it was hard to estimate their water
consumption because they had difficulties with comparing it to other households since water
activities are usually undertaken privately. With the majority of the respondents being
women, the results could also depend on this factor. Based on the findings on seasonal
aspects, another mismatch between perception and actual behaviour was identified (see
5.2.3). The interviews provided results which indicated that water usage behavior do not
differ depending on season and weather, but the excerpts in the water diaries proved that
weather and seasons actually have an impact on water usage behaviour, which mostly
concerned washing routines. The water diaries confirmed that householder’s perceptions do
not always match actual behaviour as Fan et al. (2014) suggest.

One of the respondents had a seemingly higher average than the rest of the participant
respondents. The monthly average water consumption equalled almost twice as much as the
rest even if he perceived his water usage as normal and average. It was also concluded that
this certain respondent owned a washing business which included washing and cleaning
services of clothes and sheets. This means that the respondent has daily contact with water in
a working and economic context. There is a possibility that the perception does not match
reality due to this daily contact. Translating his own household water consumption becomes
more difficult for him since the big amounts used in his profession might make the usage in

40
the household seem normal in comparison, even if it is above average. The significant
difference between this respondent and the rest could also confirm the outcomes of marxist
theories of social class and structure, which claim that capitalism and increased focus on
economic growth cause an alienation between humans and the natural world. The frequent
contact with water in an economic environment means that the respondent perceives water as
a source of income and profit, which makes the value of water become instrumental for him.
The alienation and antropocentric standpoint is therefore more obvious with this certain
respondent compared to the rest.

When discussing the perception of the householders, it is worth mentioning that the
respondents did not perceive the water that is used outside of their houses as their own. This
indication is strengthened by the respondents expressing that less water is used when they are
not spending time at home, or using services that transfers the water use to someone else’s
responsibility is a way of relieving their own water usage. Since relieving water usage has
been concluded to be dominated by economic factors with the main driver of relieving their
water bills, this way of perceiving water usage also shows of strong senses of individualistic
mindsets. Minimizing water usage is therefore not derived from the will of saving on natural
resources, but due to economic reasons. The respondent consider the act of minimizing water
usage or transferring it to another source as an individual benefit. The results of the daily
water consumption could therefore be misleading show how much water is used in the
households, since there are services that make it possible to transfer water usage to other
people and make it their consequences without having to deal with it themselves.

41
7.0 Concluding remarks

7.1. Summary
The purpose of the study was to understand how Vietnamese householders use water and to
identify different factors that determine the behaviour. The results are based on individual
perceptions, attitudes and behaviour towards water as a resource. The conclusion is that the
householders show signs of high water usage awareness since the householders have the
possibility to easily track their water usage. The water meters and the monthly billing
provides frequent updates about the monthly water usages which makes the householders
constantly reminded about their exact water use. Furthermore, the possibility of tracking and
translating water consumption into numbers and price works as tool to set limits for the water
usage. The frequent billing can be seen as successful in creating householders awareness,
since a billing that is collected for example every quarter might not have had the same
impact. The average amount would have been harder to be calculated by the householders.

When it comes to water saving techniques, cautiousness was an attitude that was
acknowledged as a potential water savings behaviour. It is of significance to emphasize that
the cautiousness have derived from interpersonal trust issues and trust issues towards
technology. These trust issues were reflected in several activities and routines that include
water. While the cautiousness is a potential water savings behaviour, it can also lead to an
overuse of both water and energy since additional methods have to be undertaken to ensure
perceived safety in health for the households. The attitudes towards water savings were
generally more positive than towards water minimizings behaviour since the latter is usually
associated with a less clean and safe lifestyle. The attitudes and behaviours were also
dominated by family customs and traditions. Realizing the power of cultural traditions can be
of significance in predicting the water usage behaviours of future generations.

7.2 The results in a context

The study of water usage behaviours and attitudes can be considered to concern individuals,
but the societal structures is confirmed as essential in understanding them. The factors that
matter in the way people use water and how they perceive it is caused by these surrounding
structures. The conclusion is that the rapid economic growth and industrialization of the
country is confirmed to have an affect on water usage behaviours, by generating interpersonal

42
trust issues and individualistic mindsets. The trust issues that are rooted into the attitudes
leads to an insufficient behaviour that result in more water and energy use than actually
needed, but is at the same time perceived as necessary by the householders to ensure a
modern lifestyle with decreased health risks. The willingness of saving water is therefore
beaten by the will to lead a life with what is considered as basic necessities in modern
society. The fixed focus on economic growth also causes an alienation towards natural
resources which make human well-being have a higher value than water resources. Modern
lifestyles are highly prioritized and water is usually just considered as instruments to reach
this goal. The use of water outside the homes is therefore not considered as their own as long
as the consequences of the water that is used (e.g. higher bill) does not affect themselves. A
general techno-optimism concerning water was also found which shows that technic
innovation is appreciated in this constant modernization, but trust issues is the major
determinant factor in water usage behaviour. Despite widespread interpersonal trust issues,
the fact that householders have institutional trust indicate that the government and water
authorities of the country have the possibility to affect and change water usage behaviour.

7.3 Reflections of the field study

It became clear to me, during the execution of the case study, that the role of myself as a
researcher would have an impact on interpreting the results. Eight weeks in Vietnam required
that I had the same living setting as my respondents when it comes to water usage. To be able
to experience the same living conditions made me understand my respondents more easily.
One thing to have in mind is that the field work was executed in the city of Hai Phong during
the dry season. During the eight weeks (between March and April) that the empirical
gathering was made, the weather was always above 20 degrees Celsius during daytime and it
did only rain a few days. It is relevant to mention that the weather may have an impact on the
results of the study since the respondents habits, activities and thoughts was collected during
a period of the year with a potentially higher levels of water stress.

Since this case study was a learning process with a time limit, it was a given that the research
would have a flexible design, with the interviews going through two phases of executions.
This was also a result of using grounded theory approach as method for analyzing, which
provided new data to research in the early stage of the study. Despite the changes, the data
from the first phase still felt relevant and was therefore included in the empirical gathering
that was analyzed. To increase validity of the results, the possibility of a pilot test could have

43
been done. The flexible research was however seen as necessary since the case study was
executed in an unfamiliar environment and required a flexible design. Due to the limited
numbers of respondents and the majority of them being of female gender, the results should
be interpreted with caution. Nonetheless, I believe that more future research to complement
this one is needed since the existing findings of the topic is limited.

44
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Using Performance Indices. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Volume 116,
2017.
Vietnam Water Supply and Sewage Association. 2010. Report on Benchmarking Study on
Urban Water Supply Utility Performance in Viet Nam for the Period 2007-
2009. Ha Noi : Vietnam Water Supply and Sewage Association
WATSAN. (2012). Vietnam Water and Sanitation Sector Assessment Report.
Retrieved 2017-10-22 from

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11.pdf

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sanitation and drinking-water: 2013 update. JMP (Joint Monitoring Programme for
Water Supply and Sanitation), Geneva.
Willis, R. M., Stewart, R. A., Panuwatwanich, K., Williams, P. R., & Hollingsworth, A. L.
(2011). Quantifying the influence of environmental and water conservation attitudes
on household end use water consumption. Journal Of Environmental Management,
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Smets, S. (2014). Water supply and sanitation in Vietnam : turning finance into services for
the future (English). Water and sanitation program. Washington, D.C. : World
Bank Group.

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 Appendix 1
The questions of the interview guide that was used in the first phase of the study.

General:
• Tell me a little about your inhouse water use.
• Which kind of water is okay to use for which cores and tasks?
• How do you prepare water for different kinds of tasks?

Knowledge and origin:

• Where do you get your water from?
• Do you know about the water source?
• Where or how have have you retrieved your knowledge about household water
management?
• Do you think that the knowledge about sustainable water use is enough?
• Do you think that the government or bigger companies shares information about water
use?

Chores
• How do you prepare food for eating and drinking contra water for other tasks?
• How do you do you use water when you wash dishes or clean the house?

Water savings
• Can you tell me about situations/cases where you feel that you think extra about
saving water?
• Do you use other water sources - such as rain water?
• Do you use any other ways to save water?
• What drives you to keep your water consumption low?

Economy
• Do you have a water meter in your household?
o PROMPT:
o YES: Do you think that the water meter affects your water use?
o NO: Would you like a water meter? And do you think it would be helpful in
minimizing your water use?
• Can you estimate how much water you use in a month?

Attitudes
• Do you think that your household uses much water?
• Does the way you use water differ from season to season?
• Which water is the best and safest one according to you?

Trust issues
• How do you feel about your neighbour’s water usage?
• Do you feel that water use and protection is a subject that the government care about?

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 Appendix 2
The questions of the interview guide that was used in the second phase of the study.

• Tell me about yourself.

• Tell me about a regular day in your life. Which activities and chores do you perform
from morning to evening?

General:
• Tell me a little about your inhouse water use.
• Which kind of water is okay to use for which cores and tasks?
• How do you prepare water for different kinds of tasks?

Knowledge and origin:

• Where do you get your water from?
• Do you know about the water source?
• Where or how have have you retrieved your knowledge about household water
management and treatment?
• Do you think that the knowledge about sustainable and safe water use is enough?
• Do you think that the government or bigger companies share information about how
to use water safely?

Chores
• How do you prepare food for eating and drinking contra water for other tasks?
• How do you do you use water when you wash dishes or clean the house?

Water savings
• Can you tell me about situations cases where you feel that you think extra about
saving water?
• Do you use any other sources of water?
• Do you use any other ways to save water?
• What drives you to keep your water consumption low?

Economy
• Do you think that the water meter affects your water usage?
• Do you think the water meter is helpful in minimizing and saving your water usage?
• How much water does your household use each month?

Attitudes
• Do you think that you (and/or your household) use much water?
• Does the way you use water differ from season to season?
• Which water is the best and safest one according to you?
• How do you feel about the water sources in the country?
• How do you feel about your neighbours and peers water usage?
• Do you feel that water use and protection is a subject that the government care about?

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 Appendix 3

28/05/2018 Survey: water usage

Survey: water usage

1. Name

2. Age

3. Gender
Mark only one oval.

Man
Woman
Other

4. Profession

5. Number of residents in household

6. Household has water meter

Mark only one oval.

Yes
No

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 Appendix 4
28/05/2018 Day (1-7) Today is _____day

Day (1­7) Today is _____day

Check the following alternatives

1. What have you done today?

Tick all that apply.

Handwashed clothes
Machine washed clothes
Showered
Washed hair
Mopped the flor

Diary

In this part you can write freely about your thoughts.

You can think about your water­related activities during the day and write about them with your own words.

2.

3.

4.

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