Sustainable Water Use and Public Awareness in Portugal

Abstract

The degradation of available water quality is a consequence of pollution, environmental degradation, and/or climate change resulting from human activities. Designing strategies to foster the adoption of sustainable behaviors requires an awareness within populations regarding water quality, water availability, and the proper consumption of water. The goal of the present work was to assess the population awareness of sustainable water usage practices. The data collection involved administering a questionnaire to a sample of 1723 participants, encompassing individuals of both genders and aged between 15 and 84 years. The questionnaire includes five specific themes (i.e., water quality, water availability, water resources, water saving, and water reuse). The outcomes indicate that despite a higher awareness of sustainable water usage practices, participants reveal low levels of awareness regarding water reuse. Furthermore, measures of participants’ overall awareness and the potential for improving it are presented. These metrics are crucial in enabling the grouping of participants according to similar characteristics, thereby streamlining the design of targeted interventions.