Impacts of regional water shortage information disclosure on public acceptance of recycled water - evidences from China's urban residents

Recycled water is an effective method to rescue regional water shortages and promote environmental protection. As for end users of recycled water, public attitudes and acceptance are important links in water recycling projects. Recycled water in this paper refers to the use of recycled water other than for drinking. Six regions with different water scarcity levels in China were selected as the study areas. Randomly selected samples from the residents of the six cities were obtained. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey. Based on the social cognitive theory of environment-cognition-behavioral, this study employs structure equation modelling and analyzes public environmental cognitions and their impacts on public acceptance of recycled water to identify the influencing factors and their influencing paths on public acceptance of recycled water. On the basis of these, this study further explores how regional water shortage information disclosure affects public acceptance of recycled water through public perceptions. The results are as follows: (1) Regional water shortage information disclosure and public awareness of water environment protection positively affect public acceptance of recycled water, and regional water shortage information disclosure indirectly affects public acceptance of recycled water by influencing public awareness of water environment protection; (2) public perceptions of health risks of recycled water negatively affect public acceptance of recycled water; and (3) regional water shortage information disclosure can boost the public's environment cognitions and thus promotes the public's awareness of water environment protection; ultimately, this will boost the public acceptance of recycled water. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study examines the impact of public environmental cognitions on public acceptance of recycled water, finding that regional water shortage information disclosure and awareness of water environment protection positively influence public acceptance of recycled water, while perceptions of health risks have a negative impact. Additionally, regional water shortage information disclosure can boost public environmental cognitions and ultimately enhance public acceptance of recycled water.