Aisha Bello-Dambatta
Last year, we launched the Dŵr Uisce Citizen Science Project in households in the Republic of Ireland. The main aim of this project is to engage and collaborate with the public to improve our understanding of water-related energy use in Irish homes and to find the most effective ways of improving the efficiency of household water and energy use. The project consists of two parts:
A cross-sectional survey launched last year on current public perception of household water and water-related energy use which you might have participated in; and
The recently launched longitudinal study which consist of a week-long data collection study which will involve participants record their actual water use.
The main aim of this follow-up study is to develop a baseline of current household water use and water-related energy use which will help in quantifying the potential of energy efficiency and emissions reductions from water use in Irish households. The findings of the whole project are being used to develop up to date best practice guidelines for climate action from household water use efficiency.
The longitudinal study is open to all households in the Republic of Ireland and ONLY one submission is required per household.
If you are able to participate, this will require logging your household water use information over 7 days here:
The survey should take no more than 10 minutes a day to complete.
You may begin the survey any day before 21st November 2022 but will need to do it daily for the week.
You are automatically registered for this study if you have previously taken part in our cross-sectional survey and have opted to be contacted for follow up. Once you begin the survey, a separate link will be emailed to you after submitting an entry for the next day’s submission.
You can download a printable daily water use log to help your household keep track of water use here.
Each member of your household can keep a separate log to be tallied with the everyone’s log at the end of each day.
If you have not previously taken part in the cross-sectional survey or if you have previously taken part but opted out of being contacted and would like to participate in the follow-up, please do so by clicking on the button below.
Why participate?
We need your help: we will not be able to have a comprehensive understanding of water use and water use behaviours in households without your participation.
We hope that you can also benefit from the study as well. A lot of our everyday environmental contribution to climate change is caused by routine actions that we take without thinking. So, why not to spend a few minutes to reflect on how you use water and what your water use habits and behaviours mean in terms of energy use, emissions, and costs?
You may discover that by simply changing some of your habits you can greatly reduce your water and carbon footprint, as well as your energy bills. Or you might find out you are already a champion and decide to do even more!
You can read about our summary findings from the cross-sectional survey here.
Ethics statement: Ethical approval to conduct this research has been granted under the procedures operated by the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering Ethics Committee at Bangor University: Approval Number: COESE2022ABD/01A.