Agent‐Based Model to Manage Household Water Use Through Social‐Environmental Strategies of Encouragement and Peer Pressure

Water conservation has long been an effective component of sustainable water management. However, inelastic price responses, demand hardening, and poor public awareness reduce the effectiveness of strategies. Here, we identify and quantify the effects of psychological and social factors such as attitudes, peer support, opportunities to conserve, and encouragement on household water use. We link household survey, municipal billing, aerial imagery, weather, and appliance flow and duration data. We use the data to develop, populate, and partially validate an agent‐based model for 270 households in Logan, Utah. Simulated indoor water use matched observed use better than outdoor use and improved over prior studies that only conceptually validated model results. Households with stronger conservation attitudes, peer support, and more opportunities saved the most water. Peer pressure saved more water than water manager encouragement because small, diverse social networks could better regulate the behavior of outlier households within the network. Combining peer pressure and encouragement saved the most water. Results suggest managers should provide platforms for households to share their water use stories and information with each other. Managers should target conservation actions to the small fraction of households who use the most water and have large potential to save water. Mangers can use the psychological and social factors to increase household adoption of water conservation actions. Plain Language Summary Water providers across the globe promote water conservation actions to help stretch limited supplies. Prior research has identified how water prices, rebates to install water efficient appliances, billing information, and public education campaigns change household water use. Here, we answer two questions: (a) How do psychological and social factors such as household attitudes, peer support from other households, opportunities to conserve, and encouragement effect household water use? and (b) how can water providers leverage these factors to better promote water conservation? To answer these questions, we linked rich data from surveys of 270 households in Logan, UT, water billing and use, aerial imagery of landscape cover, weather, and water appliance flows and uses. We populated data in a new computer model that simulated households communicating with each other, pressuring each other, and adopting water conservation actions. Simulated indoor water use m