Effect of Raising the Environmental Awareness on Reducing Kitchen Water Consumption by Jordanian Families Living in Amman City

Abstract

Problem statement: Improper use of water by Jordanian families accombined with acute shortage in water resources. Approach: This study aimed to raise the degree of the environmental awareness regarding the significance of reducing kitchen water consumption of the Jordanian families living in Amman and to provide them with the necessary knowledge and practices about the right practices to reduce water consumption. Results: The results revealed that the average consumption of kitchen water before the environmental awareness about water consumption was 59.5 L day^-1 and after raising the awareness was reduced to 49.8 L day^-1, with an average of 9.7 L day^-1 which is a very vital indicator. The difference in the consumption were found to be more for the families consisting of (10-14) members where the average differences was 12-14 L day^-1, but after environmental awareness differences were all statistically significant with all the other groups of family members. The average difference of consumption by family of members aged from (6-9) was (10-39) L daily and it was statistically significant in the family group of (2-5). The family group of (2-5) showed an average difference of 7.25 L daily. However, the family of with members aged between (15-22) years was the best in making use of raising the degree of environmental awareness to preserve water and reduce its consumption. The study also showed that the differences of consumption were more for the family groups of the average of income (601-1000) JD/month. The study also revealed that there is a positive relationship (0.801) regarding the amount of the consumed water and the number of utensils used through the three meals of day after raising the degree of environmental awareness in this study which shows the necessity of education the consumers to reduce the number of utensils, to reduce the amount of lost water out of consumed water. Conclusion: It can be concluded that raising awareness by holding sessions for the families is about water consumption is a reliable method to rationalize their consumption.