Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

How to save water: plumbing can be changed but people can’t

Campaign to ‘nudge’ people in Singapore to save water failed, but bathroom upgrades succeeded.
A luxury bathroom sink faucet with running water in a residence in Singapore.

Replacing taps and toilets in flats in Singapore reduced water use by 3.5% over 10 years. Credit: Carlina Teteris/Getty

Rather than trying to change people’s behaviour, the key to reducing water waste might lie in improved plumbing1.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 604, 221 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00947-1

References

  1. Agarwal, S., Araral, E., Fan, M., Qin, Y. & Zheng, H. Nature Hum. Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01320-y (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links