State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China ; School of Surveying and Land Information Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, China.
PLoS One. 2013 Aug 16;8(8):e71977. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071977. eCollection 2013.
Comprehensively understanding water consumption behavior is necessary to design efficient and effective water use strategies. Despite global efforts to identify the factors that affect domestic water consumption, those related to domestic water use in rural regions have not been sufficiently studied, particularly in villages that have gained access to improved water supply. To address this gap, we investigated 247 households in eight villages in the Wei River Basin where three types of improved water supply systems are implemented. Results show that domestic water consumption in liters per capita per day was significantly correlated with water supply pattern and vegetable garden area, and significantly negatively correlated with family size and age of household head. Traditional hygiene habits, use of water appliances, and preference for vegetable gardening remain dominant behaviors in the villages with access to improved water supply. Future studies on rural domestic water consumption should pay more attention to user lifestyles (water appliance usage habits, outdoor water use) and cultural backgrounds (age, education).
全面了解用水行为对于设计高效、有效的用水策略至关重要。尽管全球都在努力识别影响家庭用水的因素，但对于农村地区家庭用水的相关因素的研究还不够充分，特别是在那些已经获得改善供水的村庄。为了弥补这一空白，我们调查了渭河流域的八个村庄的 247 户家庭，这些村庄都实施了三种类型的改善供水系统。结果表明，人均日生活用水量与供水模式和菜园面积显著相关，与家庭规模和户主年龄呈显著负相关。在获得改善供水的村庄里，传统的卫生习惯、用水器具的使用以及对菜园种植的偏好仍然是主导行为。未来关于农村家庭用水的研究应该更加关注用户的生活方式（用水器具使用习惯、户外用水）和文化背景（年龄、教育程度）。
