Citation:

Rudman, A., K. Mulvaney, N. Merrill, AND Katherine Canfield. Factors in Homeowners’ Willingness to Adopt Nitrogen-Reducing Innovative/Alternative Septic Systems. Presented at EPA-SNEP Virtual Symposium 2022, NA, Virtual, May 18, 2022.

Impact/Purpose:

This presentation geared toward environmental managers and decision-makers presents new research on the social and cognitive factors influencing the adoption of Innovative/Alternative (I/A) septic systems, a technology being studied and piloted for its capacity to reduce nitrogen loading to estuaries in southern New England and beyond. To date, efforts to study and implement I/A septic systems have focused on the technical and economic efficiency of this technology, and have overlooked the social and cognitive factors influencing adoption at an individual level. As the ultimate users of these systems, homeowner perspectives and experiences matter, especially where adoption is voluntary. This presentation provides a framework of homeowner adoption that can be used by decision-makers and environmental managers to guide and improve the communication of these systems, and to better target interventions to encourage adoption. 

Description:

Regional efforts to address nonpoint source nutrient pollution have primarily focused on the economic and technical efficiency of nutrient-mitigating technologies. When mitigation requires technology adoption at an individual or homeowner level, however, engagement approaches centered on cost effectiveness and technological efficiency alone overlook social and cognitive determinants of adoption. Through a series of focus groups conducted in southeastern Massachusetts with adopters and prospective adopters, this research identifies factors influencing homeowners’ willingness to adopt Innovative/Alternative (I/A) septic systems for nitrogen reduction. We apply the data from the focus groups to technology adoption and behavior change models from the adoption literature to create a framework of homeowner adoption of I/A septic systems. We find the perceived need to replace an old/failing septic system, comply with local regulations, and protect local water quality synergistically catalyzed adoption. Adoption was further influenced by the larger context within which it is taking place, perceived characteristics of I/A systems and the installation process, system aesthetics concerns, and homeowners’ attitudes and beliefs. As the ultimate adopters of I/A septic systems, homeowner perspectives and experiences matter, especially where adoption is voluntary. This framework can be used by environmental managers and decisionmakers to guide the development of more effective messaging and outreach around these systems, and ultimately design more targeted interventions aimed at encouraging adoption. If these systems are to be more widely adopted to achieve water quality goals in southern New England and other regions seeking to use these systems to address nutrient loading, improvements in how I/A systems and the process of installation are communicated and the accessibility of information on these systems will need to be prioritized.

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