Are we prepared to use water smartly?

People's attitudes towards water usage, is one of the topics that OU academics discussed with Laurie Taylor, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Thinking Aloud programme for Smart Cities in the Making: Learning from Milton Keynes, which will be broadcast on Wednesday 25 July at 4pm.

Do smart water meters work?

One of the topics to be addressed is people’s attitudes towards water usage.

Sophie Watson, Professor of Sociology in the OU’s Faculty of Social Sciences, has conducted research into the way social, cultural, ethnic and gendered differences affect how people engage with smart technologies. Her research looks at the home visits by water companies as smart water meters were being introduced.

The research exposes the fact that the hope for behaviour change driven simply by technology was misplaced. In fact the response from water users is much more nuanced, connecting perceptions of private and public space, the relationship between the user and the water provider, and social difference too.

“The way in which people use water depends very much on factors such as their gender, their age, their ethnicity and lots of other factors,” said Professor Watson. “Often these initiatives are put into homes assuming everyone will behave the same, but in fact we don’t.”

According to Professor Watson, a one size fits all approach does not work with water meters as you can have for example, at one end, women who lived through the war and who are very good at conserving water and at the other end, young women who grow up in a culture where they are always supposed to look fabulous and are less likely to have four minute showers.

Hear more about Professor Watson’s research into water meters in the video below:

Find out more about the programme

Watch more videos of the academics