ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Water
Sec. Water and Human Systems
The knowledge of water conservation and strategies for addressing water shortage in the Fairview community in Kwa-Zulu-Natal, South Africa
Provisionally accepted
- University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
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Although South Africa is listed as a water-scarce country globally, reports suggest that the dire situation is exacerbated by wasteful water practices. As a result, sustainable water utilisation and conservation measures must be implemented at all levels. This study examines community members' knowledge of water conservation and the strategies for addressing water shortages in the Fairview community in South Africa. Utilising a mixed-methods approach and the concurrent explanatory design, the study involved questionnaire surveys of 110 households and interviews with eight managers from the Harry Gwala District Municipality. The findings reveal that age and gender significantly influenced 2 out of 5 items/beliefs about water conservation practices (Chi-Square values 0.031 and 0.071), whereas other demographic factors, such as education and job type, did not show any relationships across the various items, as shown by (Chi-Square values above 0.1). Community members generally possess a positive understanding of water conservation practices, with many actively engaging in water management behaviours. While water scarcity is a perennial problem in the community, this challenge presents opportunities to modernise water supply systems, adopt multi-stakeholder platforms to promote inclusivity, and effectively mobilize resources and ideas. In light of these findings, several recommendations are proposed: enhancing targeted educational programs to promote water-saving practices, establishing structured feedback systems to engage community members in decision-making, and providing incentives for adopting water-saving technologies. The study further underscores the importance of documenting and sharing case studies of successful water conservation practices to serve as a resource for Fairview and other regions facing water scarcity.
Keywords: KAB model, Knowledge-attitude-behaviour model, South Africa, water conservation, Water supply challenges
Received: 06 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Mazibuko, Mutanda and Ngcamu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Gideon Walter Mutanda
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