A review of factors indicating likelihood of and motivations for household rainwater tank adoption

This paper outlines the state of the literature on the adoption of rainwater tanks by urban households in Australia. There has been rapid growth in this area of research in the past 5 years as policies encouraging rainwater tanks have emerged across the country and have been associated with a surge in tank installations in some areas. This research has not been covered by previous reviews and there is little evidence of cross-comparison occurring in the field. This review shows that despite the paucity of literature on rainwater, what has been published provides good coverage of actual behaviour in comparison to the water management field as a whole. It summarises the findings of both quantitative and qualitative studies in relation to the factors determining the behaviour of households adopting rainwater tanks. It finds that the variables associated with quantitative research to date (socio-demographics, attitudes to water saving and knowledge about water sources) have been limited in distinguishing rainwater tank adopters from non-rainwater tank adopters. The picture emerging from the qualitative research is that, under the conditions of outdoor water restrictions, those who adopt a rainwater tank voluntarily do not appear to be motivated by a desire to reduce mains water use out of a sense of responsibility to the wider community. Instead these residents are primarily motivated by the desire to have an independent water supply for outdoor uses which they understand as providing independence from government restrictions on outdoor water use; or for others, as an action consistent with their environmental ethic.This paper reveals that social research is making headway in identifying what might (or might not) distinguish likely rainwater tank users and what might motivate these people to install and use a rainwater tank. This can help to shape policy to better accommodate these motivations and enable resident interest in tanks to be maintained in the future.