Sustainable Water Use Practices:
Behavior and Knowledge Awareness of Applied Science Private
University-Students
TALA SASA1, WAFA AHMAD1, RULA KHUZAIE1, NAWAL BAHTITI2, OMNIYA MIRI3
1Department of Basic Science and Humanities, Faculty of Science,
Applied Science, Private University,
Amman,
JORDAN
2Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science,
Applied Science, Private University,
Amman,
JORDAN
3Department of Basic Sciences, Deanship of Preparatory Year and Supporting Studies,
Imam Abdurrahman Bin Faisal University,
P.O. Box 1982, Dammam 34212,
SAUDI ARABIA
Abstract: - Jordan is facing a significant challenge with its water resources. Conserving water has become an urgent
need. This study aims to provide new evidence on the behavior and knowledge awareness of water conservation
for Applied Science Private University ASU students and how it affects water-saving behaviors. This study was
applied to a stratified random sample from the ASU that included 134 students. A special questionnaire was
distributed to the study sample, including the various study variables: gender, age, place of residence, and income.
The questionnaire also included questions about behavior and knowledge awareness toward water conservation
conviction about the reality of the water scarcity problem. Students showed good knowledge of sustainable
Jordanian water sources and realized the limitations of these resources. ASU students practice water-saving
behaviors in households, gardening, and swimming pools. They also adopt tools and practices to save water in their
communities. This was evidenced by their concern about purchasing water-saving tools and interacting with posts
related to water conservation on various social media platforms. Results showed that ASU students are concerned
about water-saving education. The results revealed no significant differences in behavior and knowledge awareness
towards water conservation attributed to gender, age, and level of study for father and mother, faculty, governorates,
and average family income. The implementation of water waste reduction measures is expected to save about 10
million cubic meters of water, thereby improving water services for the people of Jordan, and contributing to
strengthening resilience to climate change. Moreover, the project will contribute to reducing electricity
consumption.
Key-Words: - Water conservation, Sustainable water, Knowledge awareness, Behavior Awareness, Applied
science private university, Water-waste reduction.
Received: August 21, 2023. Revised: May 27, 2024. Accepted: June 29, 2024. Published: August 6, 2024.
1 Introduction
Water is one of the most important natural resources
for the health and well-being of all humankind, [1].
Water, especially potable water, is currently facing a
main problem worldwide. On one hand, there is
increased pressure due to water scarcity in general,
compared to the high demand, [2]. On the other
hand, there is a variation in water distribution on
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2024.20.
Tala Sasa, Wafa Ahmad,
Rula Khuzaie, Nawal Bahtiti, Omniya Miri
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
409
Volume 20, 2024
Earth's surface, [3]. The amount of water that falls on
the surface of the Earth varies from one country to
another and from one region to another, [4]. The
rapid growth of the population and the improvement
of the individual's standard of living have led to the
expansion of cities horizontally and vertically, as
well as the flourishing of industry and agriculture,
[5], [6].
Water security is becoming one of the greatest
issues of concern in many countries like Egypt,
Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia, [7], [8] and
[9]. The multiple uses of water, pollution, and
leakages in public and private networks contribute to
the complexity of the problem [1], [2], [10]. Wasting
water through improper use creates significant
pressure. Water depletion and contamination are
among the main environmental problems faced
worldwide in the 21st century, [11]. Jordan, for
example, faces increasing pressure on its water
resources with its booming economy and growing
population. The impact of accelerating climate
change also compounds these pressures. As a result,
there is a growing realization of the urgent need to
conserve water, [12]. Water resources in Jordan are
critically limited, and the problem of water scarcity
and quality represents a challenge for decision-
makers. Water scarcity is due to fluctuations in
rainfall, increasing population growth, the extension
of urbanization, the effects of global warming, and
the low level of water awareness, [13].
Water awareness is crucial for effective
management to be realized, [14]. The water crisis is
not an unusual occurrence. The water crisis arises
from a lack of awareness and irresponsible behavior
toward water use, which makes one think that he is
the only owner of water, [15]. These behaviors have
devastating effects, and man has realized that he
needs to change his actions to save his aquatic
environment and himself, [16].
This study aims to provide new evidence on the
behavior and knowledge awareness of water
conservation for ASU students and how it affects
water-saving. This study seeks to achieve differences
in the level of behavior and knowledge about water
awareness among students according to gender, age,
level of study for father and mother, faculty,
governorates, and average family income. This
study reflects the extent to which Jordanian youth are
aware of water scarcity in Jordan.
2 Methods
The results were compared according to
demographic characteristics using an independent
sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance
[ANOVA], and Chi-square test. The Pearson
correlation coefficient was also calculated between
the questionnaire axes. Data analysis was performed
using SPSS, version 22. The level of statistical
significance was set at p < 0.05 [two-sided]. The
level of statistical significance in calculating the
correlation coefficient was set at p <0.01[two-sided].
3 Results
3.1 Demographic Profile
The study sample consisted of 134 students from the
Applied Science Private University. The percentage
of students from humanities colleges was 19.4%, and
80.6% from science colleges. The percentage of
female students was 59%, the percentage of male
students was 41%, and most of them were from the
age group older than 20 years, at a rate of 66.4%.
The percentage of students who live in the capital,
Amman, was 94.8%, and the percentage of students
whose average family income exceeded 500 dinars
was 80.6%. Nearly half of the parents of the sample
students had a bachelor's degree, and one-third of the
parents of the sample students had a high school
education. Table 1 shows the demographic profile of
respondents.
3.2 Knowledge of Water Supply and
Conservation
Table 2 shows the students’ responses regarding the
presence of sufficient information about methods of
rationalizing water consumption, belief in water
scarcity, and prior knowledge of the source of water
used daily were 77.4%, 87.2%, and 60.2%,
respectively. These percentages indicate good
knowledge among our university students in this
part. There are no statistically significant differences
regarding the demographic variables, as the
significance values are more than 0.05 based on the
Chi-square test.
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Table 1. Respondent’s demographic profile
Construct
Frequency
Percent
Male
55
41.0
Female
79
59.0
Less Than 20
45
33.6
Greater Than or Equal 20
89
66.4
Humanities
26
19.4
Scientific
108
80.6
North
2
1.5
Middle
127
94.8
South
5
3.7
Less Than 500
26
19.4
500-
1000
64
47.8
Greater Than 1000
44
32.8
Secondary
41
30.6
Bachelor's
71
53.0
Postgraduate Studies, Master’s, or Doctorate
22
16.4
Secondary
53
39.6
Bachelor's
69
51.5
Postgraduate Studies, Master’s, or Doctorate
12
9.0
Source: Created by the researchers
Table 2. Knowledge of water supply and conservation
Statements of knowledge about water supply and conservation
percent
Do you know the source of the water you consume?
77.4%
Do you think there is a shortage of water resources?
87.2%
Do you think you have sufficient information about methods of conserving water consumption?
60.2%
Source: Created by the researchers
3.2.1 Reliability Coefficient
The reliability coefficient was calculated on a sample
of 32 students. The reliability coefficient [Cronbach's
Alpha] of “behavior awareness on a personal level”
is 0.774, and the reliability coefficient [Cronbach's
Alpha] of “behavior awareness on a community
level” is 0.782. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for
all statements in this questionnaire is 0.864,
equivalent to a high value.
3.3 Behavior Awareness on a Personal Level
A study was conducted to investigate students'
awareness of daily water usage and their approach to
it. The study included eleven questions, and the
responses were recorded on a three-point Likert scale
where agree was given 3 points, neutral was given 2
points, and disagree was assigned 1 point. Table 3
also displays the statements of this
section
with
the
mean and standard deviation.
According to the results, the statements
illustrating our students' behavior toward conserving
water consumption were found to be highly reliable,
with Cronbach's alpha coefficient falling within an
acceptable range.
3.4 Behavior Awareness on a Community
Level
The results show that the statements describing our
students' behavior awareness on the community level
are highly reliable, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient
within an acceptable range. This suggests that the
statements in this section are accurate. This part
consists of questions about students' behavior
awareness on a community level towards daily
practices related to water conservation. These items
follow a three-point Likert scale [agree = 3, neutral =
2, disagree = 1].
Table 4 also shows the expressions for this part
with the arithmetic mean and standard deviation.
According to the results, our students have a good
understanding of ways to conserve water, are
interested in education about water conservation, and
have taken the initiative to raise awareness among
their peers. There is a correlation between behavior
awareness on personal and community levels with r=
0.619, p = 0.000 < 0.01.
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Table 3. Behavior awareness on a personal level
No.
Behavior awareness on a personal level
Mean
Std. Deviation
Attitude
1-
Use water for short periods frequently instead of running for periods
2.80
60
.43317
Agree
2-
Water the plants early in the morning, and avoid watering in the
afternoon and afternoon due to the high level of evaporated water
at these times
2.78
36
.51096
Agree
3-
Maintaining swimming pools periodically and ensuring that they are
free of leaks
2.76
87
.51902
Agree
4-
Replace old toilets with low-flow toilets that are distinguished by
their quality and water-saving
2.71
64
.57008
Agree
5-
Avoid irrigation at sunset as it stimulates the growth of plant fungi
that consume irrigation water
2.69
40
.56499
Agree
6-
Use smart irrigation systems that turn off on rainy days
2.68
66
.59342
Agree
7-
Use the dishwasher only when full
2.64
93
.62837
Agree
8-
Avoid using running water to defrost foods
2.50
75
.67996
Agree
9-
Avoid using running water to brush teeth and shave
2.45
52
.76203
Agree
10-
Use the washing machine only when it is full
2.45
52
.71098
Agree
11-
Reducing bath time
2.23
13
.81263
Neutral
Alpha Cronbach = 0.774
2.61
40
.35190
Agree
Source: Created by the researchers
Table 4. Behavior awareness on the community level
No
Behavior awareness on a community level
Mean
Std. Deviation
Attitude
1-
When a water leak occurs in general, do you immediately repair it?
2.8582
.39074
Agree
2-
Do you pay attention to water leaks inside the house [faucets and toilets]?
2.7910
.47612
Agree
3-
Are you trying to conserve water while washing your face and brushing your teeth?
2.5597
.59460
Agree
4-
When purchasing equipment that consumes water [such as a washing machine, for
example], do you think about its level of water consumption before purchasing it?
2.5224
.71205
Agree
5-
Are you interested in seeing posts related to water conservation on various social
media platforms?
2.5149
.70161
Agree
6-
Are you ready to participate in awareness initiatives regarding the conservation of
water consumption?
2.5075
.72284
Agree
7-
Are you interested in learning new information about the water situation and
mechanisms for conservation of consumption?
2.3806
.74384
Agree
8-
Do you motivate your colleagues with the need to conserve water consumption?
2.2985
.77586
Neutral
9-
Are you taking any measures to reuse water?
2.1045
.82506
Neutral
Alpha Cronbach = 0.782
2.5041
.40204
Agree
Source: Created by the researchers
3.5 An Assessment of the Factors that Impact
Students’ Behavior Awareness on Personal
and Community Levels:
Other variables were tested using analysis of
variance [ANOVA]. Gender, age, and faculty were
tested using an independent samples t-test.
3.5.1 Gender and Age
To assess whether there were any gender and age-
related differences in the research constructs' levels,
we conducted an independent samples t-test. Table 5
shows the relationship between behavior awareness
on personal and community levels toward water
conservation according to gender and age.
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Tala Sasa, Wafa Ahmad,
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There are no significant differences between
behavior awareness on personal and community
levels based on gender and age, according to Table
6.
Table 5. The relationship between behavior awareness on personal and community levels toward water
conservation according to gender and age
Variable
Gender
Age
Male
Female
Less than 20
Greater than or equal to 20
Behavior awareness on a personal level
N
55
79
45
89
Mean
2.5769
2.6398
2.5475
2.6476
Std. Deviation
.35736
.34799
.37155
.33872
Behavior awareness on a community level
N
55
79
45
89
Mean
2.4667
.44207
2.4148
.45530
Std. Deviation
2.5302
.37234
2.5493
.36674
Source: Created by the researchers
Table 6. Independent samples T-tests based on gender and age
Independent samples T-tests: based on gender
Variable
t
df
Sig. [2-
tailed]
Mean
Difference
Std. Error
Difference
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Lower
Upper
Behavior awareness on a personal level
- 1.019
132
.31
-
.06296
.06179
-
.18518
0.05927
Behavior awareness on a community level
-
0.9
132
.37
-
0.06357
.07065
-
.20333
0.07619
Independent samples T tests: based on age
Variable
t
Df
Sig. [2-
tailed]
Mean
Difference
Std. Error
Difference
95% Confidence Interval of
the Difference
Lower
Upper
Behavior awareness on a personal level
- 1.564
132
.12
-
0.10012
0.06402
-
022677
0.02652
Behavior awareness on a community level
- 1.845
132
.067
-
0.1345
0.07288
-
0.27867
0.00967
Source: Created by the researchers
Table 7. The Relationship between behavior awareness on personal and community levels toward water
conservation based on average family income
Variable
Category
Mean
SD
N
ANOVA
Behavior awareness on a personal
level
less than 500
2.5909
.40350
26
F 1.639
Sig. 0.198
500-1000
2.6690
.30706
64
greater than 1000
2.5475
.37533
44
Behavior awareness on a community
level
less than 500
2.5000
.40399
26
F 2.654
Sig. 0.074
500-1000
2.5781
.36406
64
greater than 1000
2.3990
.43749
44
Source: Created by the researchers
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Table 8. The Relationship between behavior awareness on personal and community levels toward water
conservation, according to the governorates
Variable
Governorates
Mean
SD
N
ANOVA
Behavior awareness on a
personal level
North
206364
0.51426
2
F 0.025
Sig. 0.975
Middle
2.6149
0.35496
127
South
2.5818
0.28459
5
Behavior awareness on a
community level
North
2.6111
0.54997
2
F 1.296
Sig. 0.277
Middle
2.4917
0.40245
127
South
2.7778
0.30429
5
Source: Created by the researchers
3.5.2 Average Family Income
An analysis of variance was conducted to investigate
the influence of average family income on awareness
of behavior at personal and community levels
regarding water conservation. There are no
significant differences between behavior awareness
on personal and community levels towards water
conservation, regardless of average family income,
according to Table 7.
3.5.3 Governorates
An analysis of variance was conducted to examine
the effect of governorates on the study. Table 8
shows no significant differences in behavior
awareness on personal and community levels towards
water conservation attributed to governorates.
4 Discussion
In some studies, participants believed that the most
dominant component in water conservation behavior
was the awareness of water issues. Our study found
ASU students are aware of water supply and
conservation in Jordan. This was also documented in
a study conducted on students at Jordan University,
[9]. In a study conducted on MSA students, the
university has a low impact on awareness, [4]. To
create policies that are efficient in conserving water,
it is necessary to undertake a thorough and thoughtful
approach. It is essential to understand people's
awareness and behavior towards water conservation.
Our students showed good behavior awareness on
personal and community levels. Comparing our
results with other studies, female participants had a
significantly higher positive attitude towards water
conservation behavior than male participants
according to [17]. In our study, there was no
statistical significance between male and female
participants, [17]. Our results revealed positive
knowledge and behavior of ASU students similar to
students in Metro Manila, [18]. In a previous study at
Al-Balqa University, researchers found that students
of scientific faculties were more aware than those in
humanities faculties, [19]. Our results didn’t show
any significant differences.
5 Conclusion
This study succeeded in identifying the level of
awareness of students at the University of Applied
Sciences about the importance of water resources and
their behavior to conserve water. Part B, which
concerns behavioral awareness at the personal level
has the highest average value of 2.6140 [standard
deviation 0.35190]. The mean value of part C related
to behavioral awareness at the community level
showed a high value of 2.5041 [standard deviation of
.40204]. There is a positive relationship between the
level of awareness and practices implemented to
support the conservation of water resources.
Acknowledgements:
The researchers acknowledge Applied Science
Private University, Amman, Jordan, for the full
financial support granted to this research article.
Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted
Technologies in the Writing Process
During the preparation of this work, the authors used
Grammarly Ink TOOL/SERVICE to correct
grammar. After using this tool/service, the authors
reviewed and edited the content as needed and takes
full responsibility for the content of the publication.
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2024.20.
Tala Sasa, Wafa Ahmad,
Rula Khuzaie, Nawal Bahtiti, Omniya Miri
E-ISSN: 2224-3496
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Contribution of Individual Authors to the
Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting
Policy)
Conceived and designed the analysis; Tala Sasa1
Collected the data; Wafa Ahmad1
Contributed data or analysis tools; Rula Khuzaie1
Performed the analysis; Omniya Miri3
Wrote the paper, Nawal Bahtiti2
Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a
Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself:
Applied Science private university-Am man-Jordan.
Conflict of Interest
No conflict of interest
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)
This article is published under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_
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