Public Attitudes Towards Managed Aquifer Recharge and Urban Stormwater Use in Adelaide

In Australia, urban stormwater is a largely untapped resource that could help cities address water scarcity issues and meet future water supply demands. Managed aquifer recharge using stormwater is one method by which cities could store and treat urban stormwater for distribution. This method can provide potable and non-potable water that citizens and agricultural producers could be used as a supplementary water source. The purpose of the present research was to examine public attitudes towards two different methods of managed aquifer recharge for stormwater, one providing potable water and the other providing water for non-potable end uses, in the greater Adelaide area. Based on past research (Alexander et al., 2012; Mankad et al, 2013), two types of information seemed to influence attitudes towards MAR of stormwater: 1) knowledge of safety and water quality measures, and 2) concern about environmental issues surrounding managed aquifer recharge. In addition, other perceptions of policy related factors seemed to affect acceptance of stormwater, and these appeared to be different based on the proposed use of the stormwater: non-potable or potable purposes. This research uses a survey with an experimental design to measure acceptance for treated stormwater and to test for these influences.