Water Leakages in Michigan Households
Overview:
The school of Information at the University of Michigan had its students focus on understanding and addressing water-related challenges and issues for its “Water” themed year. My project for the semester involved a systematic research process encompassing key activities such as literature analysis, interviews with subject matter experts, and the collection, analysis, and synthesis of data. The presentation culminates in actionable insights and recommendations based on the findings.
Disciplines
Timeline
4 months
User Experience Research
Timeline
Problem Statement Identification
Generating Research Questions
Background
The EPA estimates that 1 trillion gallons of water are wasted through leakages each year (EPA, 2023).
Research Question 1
HOW COULD SUCH A LARGE AMOUNT OF WATER BE GOING TO WASTE?
(HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?)
Interviews
Conducted a series of Interviews. Collected a series of quotes and behaviors organized my theme.
Subject Matter Expert (Great Lakes Authority)
Subject Matter Expert (Property Owner)
Theme: INFRASTRUCTURE
“America’s Infrastructure is old. Michigan's water infrastructure is around as old as the town’s are.”
“Many places in the state haven’t have major investments (or upgrades) since the 1970’s when there was more funding.”
“Interestingly, in some parts of the state having leaks in the infrastructure is beneficial because is maintains pressure in the pipes for towns that have a shrinking population.
Methods
Affinity walls
User Interviews
Literature Analysis
Research Synthesis
Tools
Miro
Stakeholder Identification
Teammates
Miro
Data Analysis
Households could be wasting up to 10,000 gallons of water annually
Leakages tend to be the fifth largest expenditure of water, after toilets, faucets, showers, and washing machines (Water Resource Foundation, 2016) (Mayer, 1996)
Research Question 2
HOW COULD HOMEOWNERS REMAIN UNINFORMED ABOUT THE SCALE OF THEIR WATER LOSS?
(DO THEY THEY KNOW HOW TO FIX IT?)
Theme: ATTITUDES
“Water is seen as cheap resource”
“Fixing small leaks is fairly easy, I usually make all the repairs on the properties I own”
Theme: BEHAVIORS
Not motivated to pay attention to the bill or usage
Homeowners may opt for DIY repair
Formalizing Recommendations and Next Steps
Affinity Map
In order to synthesize the data collected from academic papers, government websites, and interviews with both subject matter experts and lay persons we made an affinity map to pull out big themes.
The big themes were then converted into two main findings
Finding 1
There Has A Depriortizatioan In Upgrading American Infrastructure Resulting In Leaks And Contamination
Finding 2
Recommendations
The recommendations were sorted into two categories. The first being recommendations to increase the public’s education. The second being recommendations to increase government spending.
Create more robust educational campaigns
Utilize social media to promote current and future educational information
Create governmental incentives to promote water saving measures like rebates and tax credits
Recommendation 1
The Low Economic Cost Of Addressing Water Leaks Will Not Influence Consumers to Make Changes
LESSONS LEARNED
Challenges & Next Steps
Continue current investments such as:
Bipartisan Infrastructure bill
American Rescue Plan
Drinking water infrastructure plan
Evaluate current funding to determine if its going to communities with the most need
Provide funding to modernize home appliances
Recommendation 2
Due to limited time we were not able to interview as many participants as we would have liked.
Next steps would be to include more homeowners and renters, and to also add people who use water in diverse ways including farmers and business owners
Water systems are very complex and are safeguarded by multiple levels of bureaucratic oversight
Next steps are to work more closely with city and state officials to explore ways to implement our findings in a manner that aligns with their agencies constraints