{"id":263,"date":"2023-08-25T16:51:56","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T23:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/wgedl\/?page_id=263"},"modified":"2025-07-03T14:24:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T21:24:46","slug":"263-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/wgedl\/263-2\/","title":{"rendered":"P2- TURFGRASS PREFERENCE AND PERCEPTIONS SURVEY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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TURFGRASS PREFERENCE AND PERCEPTIONS SURVEY<\/div>\n
Survey and Analysis of Homeowner’s preferences and perceptions of Turfgrass Design and Water Maintenance <\/div>\n\n\n
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Turfgrass design and water maintenance perceptions and preferences survey to determine the attitudes and values of recent homeowners with regards to turfgrass maintenance and adoption of new more resilient forms of stormwater management on site.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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THE ISSUE<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

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While traditional water sources for lawn irrigation still represent the majority of irrigation practices used in the USA, a more sustainable option is being explored: stormwater collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has become common for U.S. homeowners to seek alternatives for traditional turf lawns as many face the consequences of rapid population growth, increased urban and suburban development, and increased depletion of freshwater and groundwater sources. The subsequent effects of these water scarcity concerns and cost of water demands drives efforts for new landscaping and management practices, but it is not well understood how residential communities feel about stormwater collection and usage in urban environments to meet their water management needs and goals. <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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WHAT WE DID<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

To understand more about recent homeowners opinions, attitudes, and values, WEDG Lab conducted an email survey about stormwater harvesting on a residents property such as alternative sustainable irrigation methods, rain gardens, rain barrels, and underground water storage tanks. The survey was targeted at respondents who were homebuyers in the past five years, specifically comparing Washington State residents to a small sample population throughout the entire United States. The study asked a series of questions  divided into five sections: 1. Demographics 2. Current lawn and water management practices 3. Stormwater knowledge 4.Decision making determining factors 5. Willingness to adopt alternative sustainable practices. In the fifth section, respondents were presented with a choice experiment in which they were asked to select their most preferred water source and irrigation method among multiple options in choice scenarios presented side-by-side.<\/p>\n\n <\/section>\n\n\n

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WHAT WE DISCOVERED<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Results of the survey showed that water scarcity issues are influential to homeowners’ decision-making process, and 62% of respondents preferred automated timers for low-maintenance irrigation applications and as a means of water volume control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homeowners were also found to be very willing to adopt alternative sustainable methods for lawn irrigation, such as an automated sprinkler system using underground stormwater storage tanks filled with rainwater from rooftops for their irrigation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, 77% of respondents indicated either high or moderately high levels of understanding on how rainwater is harvested on their property. However, it was notable that while 21-26% of respondents indicated that they are unlikely to apply their knowledge of rainwater harvesting irrigation on their current property, 84% of respondents indicated that they would be interested in a rain garden. A reason for this could have been the functionality of harvesting stormwater to serve the utilitarian purpose of irrigation, vs the aesthetic and ecological purpose that a rain garden often serves, which may have increased the likelihood of application of stormwater onsite for rain gardens vs. lawn irrigation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better understand this discrepancy between the motivations for \u201crainwater harvesting\u201d versus \u201crain gardens\u201d, the findings pointed toward lack of information, successful precedent, and\/or skilled contractors as the main reasons homeowners are not currently adopting more sustainable irrigation methods. The utilitarian and economic value of irrigation aesthetics and cost were more important to respondents than moral concerns of water scarcity, volume, and source issues, but not significantly so. Looking at the value of water scarcity 24% of homeowners noted it as a very important factor in watering their lawns, 19% indicated they were very likely to water their lawns in the summer months, and 33% were not likely to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While 94% of respondents indicated that their current properties were most represented as automatic sprinkler systems fed by municipal water sources, a majority also expressed interest in adopting a new strategy. The study showed homeowners three different landscape watering types: 1. Traditional automated sprinkler with a municipal water source, 2. A traditional automated sprinkler with an underground rain barrel of onsite stormwater collection as the water source, and 3. A manual sprinkler system with an above-ground rain barrel with stormwater collected on-site as the water source. Out of this fifth section of questions around these landscape watering types, automated sprinklers with underground rain barrels were preferred by 50% of respondents, and manual sprinklers with above-ground rain barrels were preferred by 17%. Those results were consistent with the fact that the least likely to be adopted method is the most labor-intensive, a manual watering system, and consistent with the preference for automated sprinklers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WHAT IT MEANS<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Homeowners in many communities will face significant challenges in meeting their expanding water needs as a result of depleted resources. Having more knowledge about sustainable water harvesting techniques, and how homeowners may implement them in their landscaping may encourage designers, and decision-makers to enhance state and local water regulations for more water-conscious irrigation practices may help to to address these resource obstacles. Through our study to gather that knowledge, homeowners indicated a desire for more sustainable watering methods by homeowners, and a user-friendly and low- maintenance option as well. However, homeowners are less likely to adopt these practices if they are not readily available and do not add to the aesthetic goals of their landscape. Important factors in this decision-making process were indicated to be water scarcity concerns and ease of management preferences such as programmable timers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the sample size, there was notable interest in creating rain gardens on current properties (45% of respondents), and homeowners were most likely to adopt an automated sprinkler system with underground stormwater storage tanks of rainwater from rooftops as a water source (50% of respondents). Additionally, most respondents expressed a strong likelihood to adopt stormwater irrigation, but in direct contrast with this 91% also indicated they were not likely to change their current irrigation system due to a lack of precedent or skilled contractors. This points towards the value of the importance of availability and access to the necessary labor and resources required for these new irrigation systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some more areas of research to better our understanding of the issues outlined in this study could be looking at areas of lighter and heavier rainfall, greywater reuse, a younger population, and areas of lower or higher humidity than the state of Washington or the USA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This study demonstrates that sustainable watering methods for homeowner\u2019s lawns are present and desired by homeowners. A greater need for case studies where stormwater harvesting on-site and managed through a programmable timer in the State of Washington the the nation at large are needed to train contractors and homeowners on the success of the concept. This responsibility will fall primarily on the shoulders of home builders and landscape designers in the near and present future.<\/p>\n\n <\/section>\n\n\n

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