SR382 Drivers and barriers to rainwater and greywater uptake in New Zealand (July 2017)

This study was undertaken to understand the perceived and actual drivers and barriers to the uptake of rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling systems in the New Zealand context. This was mainly determined through two self-selecting online surveys of a wide range of industry representatives.

It was found that the biggest incentives or drivers for installing rainwater harvesting and/or greywater recycling systems were for cost savings and environmental reasons. The secondary reason for installing rainwater and/or greywater systems was for resilience.

In terms of installing systems in New Zealand buildings, cost, education and storage were perceived as the biggest barriers for rainwater. For greywater recycling, education and cost were the two biggest barriers. With regard to the primary concerns with rainwater and greywater systems, the survey respondents thought that water quality, health and waterborne disease are by far the biggest perceived issues. For greywater quality, the specific recurring issues respondents had were health, general quality, cross-contamination with potable water, cleanliness of the system and society’s perception of ‘dirtiness'.