Water audits cut use sharply—and then the signal disappeared
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
A natural field experiment randomized about 45,000 households to different prompts and incentives for completing an online home water audit. Incentives increased participation, and among compliers water use fell about 17% over two months; the conservation effect then attenuated and became undetectable after roughly two months.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
One-time information and feedback can produce a real response without producing a durable new baseline. Water-conservation programs should distinguish successful uptake, short-run behavior change and persistence rather than treating completion of an audit as the endpoint.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
The 17% estimate is for compliers, not the average effect across all households. This was one U.K. residential program; it did not directly measure ecological outcomes, drought resilience or whether repeated interventions could sustain savings.
SOURCE
The Economic Journal
View original evidence ↗
A randomized U.K. field experiment found large short-run savings among audit compliers, but the conservation effect became undetectable after roughly two months.
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