Evaluating the Water Literacy of Students (Case study: University of Isfahan)

Water literacy (WL) is made of three main subjects of water knowledge (WK), attitude (WA), and behavior (WB). This research introduces water literacy as a new indicator for the green metrics of universities. It is calculated among students in University of Isfahan (UI), as a pioneer university in Iran, to assess the overall understanding of students about water. For this purpose, ۳۶ questions were asked in ۲۰۲۰ via questionnaires about different subjects, such as water cycles and resources (WCR), water scarcity and saving solutions (WSS), water quality and sanitation (WQS). It is realized that the score of water literacy is moderate (۵۳ out of ۱۰۰) for students. Their water attitude (۵۹/۱۰۰) and behavior (۵۷/۱۰۰) are rather good, while water knowledge (۳۹/۱۰۰) is relatively poor. Here, family income has significant impact on water knowledge and literacy of students, while gender has no significant impact. ۴۹% of students showed proper knowledge about water quality issues. ۵۸% of students were concerned about hygiene and sanitation during COVID-۱۹ pandemic, and ۶۵% of students preferred to participate in social and cultural activities for water saving. All these results imply that universities have potential for the improvement of environmental and water literacy in society.

Keywords:

eduction , environment , green university , literacy , water consumption