Traces of Water:
Developing the social science of domestic water consumption

"Traces of Water" is a series of workshops that aims to develop the social science of domestic water consumption.

Within the water sector understanding domestic water consumption has been dominated by questions about average per capita consumption, the implications of metering and how new technologies affect water consumption. Understanding patterns of water consumption, the future of demand and the effects of different forms of regulation require more complex investigation into the practices through which people consume water, the relationship between those practices, different technologies, and wider social and infrastructure change.

The consumption of water, in other words, is just a trace of a series of multiple and complex social and technical processes co-ordinated through the practices of everyday life. Through this series of workshops we will trace an understanding of such processes by reviewing relevant research, concepts and methods from the social sciences, examining the implications for the industry and future research.

Each half-day workshop hosted at the office of UKWIR addresses a particular theme.

Workshop 1	Perspectives on the water consumer	18th April '05
Workshop 2	Water practices in everyday life	9th June '05
Workshop 3	Shaping water practices by infrastructure	10th November '05
Workshop 4	Water stresses disrupting the consumer	9th February '06
Workshop 5	Imagining the future	6th April '06