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Vatten är avgörande för allt liv på jorden och utgör FN:s sjätte globala hållbarhetsmål ”rent vatten och sanitet”. Denna rapport syftar på att undersöka vattenbesparing inom hushåll genom en fallstudie av Oaxen och Sandön med tillhörande kommuner Södertälje och Värmdö. Genom litteraturstudier kartlades befintliga vattenbesparingsåtgärder och kommunernas vattenarbete undersöktes både genom litteraturstudier samt intervjuer. En enkätstudie genomfördes även för att kartlägga individers beteende, kunskap och inställning till vattenbesparingsåtgärder. Det erhållna resultatet från enkätstudien visade på en positiv inställning till vattenbesparingsåtgärder och många individer har en stor medvetenhet kring sitt beteende relaterat till vattenanvändning. Litteraturstudien och intervjuerna visade vidare att det i dagsläget finns få riktlinjer relaterat till vattenbesparing och befintliga riktlinjer fokuserar framförallt på ramar för vattenanvändning snarare än att införa rekommendationer kring olika vattenbesparingsåtgärder. Slutligen rekommenderas snålspolande munstycken (sparstrålsamlare) och snålspolande toaletter som de bästa åtgärderna baserat på vattenbesparing, installationskostnad, kostnadsbesparing och individers inställning. / Water is crucial for all life on earth and constitutes UN’s sixth sustainable development goal ”Clean Water and Sanitation”. This report aims to study water conservation in households through a case study of the two islands Oaxen and Sandön with their associated municipalities Södertälje and Värmdö. Existing water conservation measures were identified through literature studies and the municipalities efforts in water management were studied through both literature studies and interviews. A survey was also conducted to study individuals’ behaviour, knowledge and view on water conservation measures.  The result obtained from the survey study showed a positive view to water conservation measures and many respondents showed great awareness regarding their behaviour related to water usage. Furthermore, the literature study and the interviews convey that there currently are few guidelines related to water conservation. Existing guidelines mainly focuses on limitations for water usage rather than introducing recommendations on different technical water conservation measures. In conclusion, low-flush nozzles and toilets are recommended since they are considered to be the best water conservation measures based on installation cost, cost savings, water conservation and individuals’ views. Recirculating shower and usage of rainwater are to be considered for those having the possibility to make a bigger investment due to the water conservation being great.

<p>Over 750 million people, 80% of whom live in rural communities, lack access to improved water sources. Even where an improved water source is easily accessible, recontamination and/or inadequate infrastructure may make it unsafe for human consumption. A lack of safe water leads to elevated rates of waterborne diseases and can exacerbate cycles of poverty by forcing individuals to miss school and work and to travel greater distances to secure better-quality water. Households in rural and remote communities may thus choose to use point-of-use treatment as a means of gaining greater control over their water quality and the health of their families. The BioSand Filter (BSF) is one such technology: it is an intermittently-operated household-scale slow sand filter currently used in over 70 nations around the world.</p> <p>This thesis situates point-of-use water treatment, and specifically the BSF, within the context of the relationship between water and health and the continuum of technologies used for water treatment. From this foundation, it presents the methodology and results of a study carried out to inform best-practices around BSF use by: (a) examining the effects on BSF media and filtration performance of physical disturbances that may commonly occur in the field; and (b) assessing whether the biological community within BSFs promotes nitrification that could produce elevated nitrate/nitrite levels.</p> <p>Results demonstrated that disturbing the filters through moving and side impacts caused marked sand compaction and decreased flow rates for plastic (Hydraid) BSFs. Although these decreased flow rates may contribute to user frustration and disuse, they were not associated with reduced filtration performance. Nitrate and nitrite concentrations were well below WHO guidelines for all samples, but changes in nitrogen speciation suggested that nitrification was mediated by the biological community within the filters. Recommendations for practitioners and for future research are discussed in light of these findings.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

In Sweden variable-rate mortgages are relatively common. Furthermore, householdindebtedness is high in relation to other nations within the European Union. Therefore,monetary policy has a stronger effect on the economy due to the household sensitivityregarding interest rates. During times of changes in the policy rate, the expectation is that theimpact on consumption is greater, because of a stronger effect due to higher sensitivity of theinterest rates. Moreover, consumption expenditures make up a large part of the Swedisheconomy, with approximately half of the gross domestic product consisting of householdconsumption. Because of the mentioned reasons it is important and compelling to examinethe relationship between the structure of the mortgage market, monetary policy andhousehold consumption. Thus, we investigate how the mortgage term affects householdconsumption during times the policy rate is changed. To answer the question an empirical method is utilized. The data used is quantitativesecondary data gathered from different sources and coordinated. The data material spans aperiod of roughly 17 years which contains three periods when the Swedish central bankchanged the policy rate and the observations are on a monthly basis, from january 2006 untilseptember 2023. To perform the analysis the statistical software IBM SPSS is used. Theregression analysis is implemented through the “General linear model”. The dependentvariable is household consumption. The explanatory variables include the proportion ofvariable-rate mortgages, disposable income, the policy rate as well as inflation. The policyrate and inflation are also lagged backward in time by one year respectively. The result of the regression analysis implicates that the effects of all the explanatory variablesin the study are statistically significant. As regards the policy rate though, only the laggedversion of the variable is statistically significant. The share of variable-rate mortgages, whichis a measurement of the mortgage term, has a negative effect on household consumption. Theeffect of disposable income is positive. Furthermore, both the policy rate and its laggedversion have negative effects on household consumption. In contrast, inflation has a positiveeffect while the lagged version of inflation has a negative effect on household consumptionwhich is larger in magnitude.

Past research has established a marital wage premium among men, and more recently, among women of the baby boom generation. It is unknown whether: 1) the marriage premium holds among more recent cohorts of men and women, 2) it differs by intensity of work hours among husbands and wives, and 3) cohabiters receive wage bonuses. Using fixed-effects models and data from the 1979-1989 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and the 1997-2010 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97), this paper compares cohort differences in the gendered marriage premium. While both women and men receive marriage premiums and these premiums are larger for more recent cohorts, men’s premiums are consistently higher and have doubled from the late baby boomers cohort (NLSY79) to the late Generation X (Gen X) cohort (NLSY97). While there was no wage premium for cohabitation among baby boom cohort women, I observe a premium among Gen X men and women. Household specialization matters: while among baby-boomers the marriage premium did not vary by household type, among the Gen X cohort men’s marriage premium is significantly larger among male breadwinner households, and surprisingly, I find marriage penalties for men in female-breadwinner households. Similarly, Gen X female breadwinners and female dual-earners receive the marriage premium while Gen X women in male-breadwinner households experience marriage penalty. In addition, the more highly educated receive larger marital bonuses.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of man-made contaminants of increasing human health concern due to their resistance to degradation, widespread occurrence in the environment, bioaccumulation in human and animal organ tissue, and potential negative health impacts. Drinking water is suspected to be a primary source of human PFAS exposure, so the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has set interim and final health advisories for several PFAS species that are applicable to municipal water supplies. However, private drinking water supplies may be uniquely vulnerable to PFAS contamination, as these systems are not subject to EPA regulation and often include limited treatment prior to use for drinking or cooking. The goal of this study was to determine the incidence of PFAS contamination in private drinking water supplies in two counties in Southwest Virginia (Floyd and Roanoke), and to examine the potential for reliance on citizen-science based strategies for sample collection in subsequent broader sampling efforts. Samples for inorganic ions, bacteria, and PFAS analysis were collected on separate occasions by homeowners and experts at the home drinking water point of use (POU) in 10 Roanoke and 10 Floyd County homes for comparison. Experts also collected an outside tap PFAS sample. At least one PFAS compound was detected in 76% of POU samples collected (n=60), with an average total PFAS concentration of 23.5 parts per trillion (ppt). PFOA and PFOS, which are currently included in EPA health advisories, were detected in 13% and 22% of POU samples, respectively. Of the 31 PFAS species targeted, 15 were detected in at least one sample. On average, a single POU sample contained approximately 3 PFAS, and one sample contained as many as 8 different species, indicating that exposure to PFAS in complex mixtures is worth noting. Although there were significant differences in total PFAS concentrations between expert and homeowner collected samples (Wilcoxon, alpha = 0.05), it is unclear whether this difference was due to contamination by the collector or the water usage and time of day of sampling (i.e. morning, afternoon). It is worth noting that there was no significant difference in the number of PFAS species in the samples collected by homeowners and experts. Given the considerable variation in PFAS detections between homes, future studies reliant on homeowner collection of samples appears possible given proper training and instruction to collect at the same time of day (i.e. first thing in the morning). / Master of Science / Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) belong to a large family of manmade compounds that are commonly used in a variety of household and consumer products due to their unique water and stain resistant properties. PFAS compounds are not easily broken down in the environment and have been detected globally in air, soil, and water samples. In addition to their environmental detections, PFAS are slow to be removed from the body after ingestion and known to cause negative health effects in concentrations less than one part per trillion. Drinking water is considered to a main source of PFAS consumption for humans; as such, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has set strict, but not legally binding, interim and final health advisories (HA) for four types of PFAS. However, these health advisories only apply to public water services and do not cover private drinking water systems, such as wells or springs, which are the full responsibility of the well owner. Private drinking water system users often do not treat their water before drinking which may make these systems uniquely vulnerable to PFAS contamination. This study focused on 20 total homes, 10 in Roanoke County and 10 in Floyd County to see if PFAS was present and to determine whether or not homeowners would be able to collect their own samples for PFAS analysis at home as accurately as researchers or experts with proper instructions. Homeowners and experts collected drinking water samples inside at a point of use (POU), usually at a kitchen faucet, and outside of the home, usually from a tap. PFAS were present in 76% (n=60) of POU samples, with an average combined concentration of 23.5 parts per trillion (ppt). The two most well studied PFAS, PFOA and PFOS were detected in 13% and 22% of POU samples, respectively. It was also common to detect at least 3 PFAS in a single sample. Although there were differences in total average concentrations of PFAS in samples collected by homeowners and experts, variation could be caused by several factors indicating that with proper training and instruction it is likely future studies could still rely on homeowners to collect samples for PFAS analysis.

Many developing countries are undergoing rapid urbanization which often outpaces affordable housing development, aggravating housing shortages. To address this, some governments initiate affordable housing schemes, aiming to provide low-income households with access to affordable housing. This thesis examines the impact of government affordable housing schemes on housing affordability in Rwanda, focusing on their distributional impact and their targeted households. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study analyses data from the fifth Integrated Living Conditions Survey (EICV5) to investigate income distribution, housing expenditure patterns, and expenditure-to-income ratios across different population segments and geographical regions. Complemented by a review of government policies and institutional frameworks, the study contextualises its findings within consumer theory, New Institutional Economics (NIE), and Housing Supply Value Chain frameworks. The analysis reveals significant disparities in income and expenditure-to-income ratios (EIR) among households across different deciles and geographical regions. These variations are shaped by factors such as household economic capacity, institutional frameworks, housing supply value chain, and regional population density. The study emphasizes the importance of strict eligibility criteria for beneficiaries of affordable housing units set by the government of Rwanda to maintain long-term affordability and prevent speculation in government-supported projects. However, variations in target beneficiaries, income requirements, and housing costs across the ongoing affordable housing projects highlight the complexity of defining and implementing affordable housing in Rwanda. Some projects target displaced households, while others target higher-income brackets, challenging the local definition of affordable housing. This master’s thesis sheds light on the distributional impact of government affordable housing schemes in Rwanda, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in ensuring housing affordability for low-income households amidst rapid urbanization and evolving housing dynamics.

Thesis (M. Tech.) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2009 / Providing adequate sanitation facilities to the poor is a major challenge facing developing nations such as South Africa. Increasing population pressure adds to the problem of providing sanitation in many of these countries, especially in urban areas. As a result of increased pressure on infrastructure there has been a disturbing increase in the number of poorly designed and poorly operated waterborne sewerage systems, especially in densely populated settlements in South Africa. When sanitation fails or is inadequate the impact on the health of the community and on the receiving water environment can be extremely serious. The population issue and urbanisation have placed pressure on local authorities to provide adequate sanitation facilities, and just as importantly, educating people using these facilities regarding proper maintenance and use of these facilities. The study is aimed to determine how and why the sanitation and water related practices or behaviour of Poding Tse Rolo community contributes to the sewer and manhole blockages. This community was chosen because the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) Free State region received several complaints of sanitation problems from the community members such as farmers, and individual members who are directly affected by the wastewater overflows in this area. Through discussions with some of the community members and municipal officials an interest was expressed in finding possible solutions to the above problem. The majority of people in Poding Tse Rolo are using waterborne systems that are situated in-yard (not in-house) with only a small portion of the township, still using bucket systems. The samples collected indicated that 42 percent of the breadwinners in Poding Tse Rolo are domestic workers with only 25 percent working as general workers or in government departments. Manhole blockages are due to foreign objects such as spoons, cloths and plastics. Although the findings indicated that households remove all solid materials before disposing of grey water into the drains, the drains seemed to have defective sieves and solid objects could pass through into the sewers. The community is mostly using toilet paper for anal cleaning and were aware that other types of material such as newspapers could block the toilet especially if used in large quantities. However, during the observations newspapers were found in the toilets and about 22 percent of the toilets were without any anal cleaning paper. Children between one and three years of age normally do not use the toilet because they are afraid of falling in and using too much paper. The study found that the sustainability of the waterborne system is on the borderline due to the low socio economic status of the people, the insufficient community participation at ward meetings and the lack of employment opportunities in Poding Tse Rolo.