Browsing by Author "Gallagher, Elaine"

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    Data supporting 'An exploration of customers satisfaction with water and wastewater services in the UK'
    (Cranfield University, 2023-02-23 14:41) Smith, Heather; Tian, Kang; Goodwin, Daniel; Gallagher, Elaine
    This dataset underpins the paper entitled 'An Exploration of Customers' Satisfaction with Water and Wastewater Services in the UK' in the journal Water Economics and Policy. Data was collected through an online survey administered in Qualtrics. The data is in .sav format which is suitable for the SPSS statistical software. For further info contact the corresponding author.
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    Ecosystem services from combined natural and engineered water and wastewater treatment - Data accompanying the manuscript published in Ecological Engineering journal
    (Cranfield University, 2019-05-14 09:28) Zawadzka, Joanna; Gallagher, Elaine; Smith, Heather; Corstanje, Ronald
    This data repository contains the spatially explicit results generated during the research described in the manuscript. The methods used to obtain these results are described in detail in the manuscript and supplementary materials associated with the text. The contents of the zipped folders is as follows: - ESS_RBF.zip, ESS_MARSAT.zip, ESS_CW.zip - maps in ESRI shapefile format showing the distribution of the Site/Off-site ratio values across the entire modelling catchments, corresponding to the Figures 4-6 in the manuscript; - Connectivity. zip containing raster files showing the distribution of the resistance values (_resistance.tif) and locations of nodes (_nodes.shp) submitted to the Circuitscape model as well as the model outputs - cumulative current maps (_connectivity.tif). These datasets correspond to Figures 3 and 7 in the manuscript. - Site locations - shapefiles showing the outlines of the three sites assessed in this study. All datasets can be viewed and modified in a GIS software. Input land use/land cover maps for the models cannot be shared due to licence restrictions.
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    Ecosystem services from combined natural and engineered water and wastewater treatment systems: Going beyond water quality enhancement
    (Elsevier, 2019-05-24) Zawadzka, Joanna; Gallagher, Elaine; Smith, Heather M.; Corstanje, Ronald
    Combined natural and engineered water and waste water systems (cNES) are nature-based solutions that utilise naturally occurring processes to remove impurities from water and therefore contribute to the ecosystem service of water quality enhancement. We hypothesise that these systems may also have a potential to deliver ecosystem services other than their primary purpose of water purification and we use spatially-explicit modelling tools to determine these benefits. We focused on three different types of cNES: bank filtration (BF), managed aquifer recharge/soil aquifer treatment (MAR/SAT), and constructed wetlands (CW), and combined the ecosystem services cascade, DESSIN and CICES conceptual frameworks with multiple InVEST 3.4.4 models to investigate the spatial distribution of intermediate ecosystem services within the sites as well as in the surrounding landscape. We also determined the role of habitats present within the sites in wider landscape’s connectivity to the nearest Natura 2000 areas using the Circuitscape 4.0 model, assessed the public perception of the aesthetic value of two of the cNES technologies, i.e. CW and MAR/SAT, via an online survey, and linked the determined ecosystem services to their likely beneficiaries. Our results indicated that the sites characterised with semi-natural ecosystems had a good potential for ecosystem services provision and that the selected cNES technologies were favourably received by the public as compared to their engineered equivalents. We concluded that determination of ecosystem services potential from nature-based solutions, such as cNES technologies, should be done in consideration of various contextual factors including the type of habitats/ecosystems present within the proposed solutions, the location within the landscape as well as properties and ecosystem services potential of the areas surrounding the sites, all of which can be facilitated by deployment of spatially-explicit ecosystem service models at early stages of the planning process.
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    Environmental regulation in transition: Policy officials’ views of regulatory instruments and their mapping to environmental risks
    (Elsevier, 2018-07-29) Taylor, Christopher M. ; Gallagher, Elaine; Pollard, Simon J. T.; Rocks, Sophie A.; Smith, Heather M.; Leinster, Paul; Angus, Andrew
    This study re-analysed 14 semi-structured interviews with policy officials from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to explore the use of a variety of regulatory instruments and different levels of risk across 14 policy domains and 18 separately named risks. Interviews took place within a policy environment of a better regulation agenda and of broader regulatory reform. Of 619 (n) coded references to 5 categories of regulatory instrument, ‘command and control’ regulation (n = 257) and support mechanisms (n = 118) dominated the discussions, with a preference for ‘command and control’ cited in 8 of the policy domains. A framing analysis revealed officials' views on instrument effectiveness, including for sub-categories of the 5 key instruments. Views were mixed, though notably positive for economic instruments including taxation, fiscal instruments and information provision. An overlap analysis explored officials' mapping of public environmental risks to instrument types suited to their management. While officials frequently cite risk concepts generally within discussions, the extent of overlap for risks of specific significance was low across all risks. Only ‘command and control’ was mapped to risks of moderate significance in likelihood and impact severity. These results show that policy makers still prefer ‘command and control’ approaches when a certainty of outcome is sought and that alternative means are sought for lower risk situations. The detailed reasons for selection, including the mapping of certain instruments to specific risk characteristics, is still developing.
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    An exploration of customers’ satisfaction with water and wastewater services in the UK
    (World Scientific, 2023-02-03) Tian, Kang; Goodwin, Daniel; Gallagher, Elaine; Smith, Heather M.
    In this research, we examine the relationship between customer satisfaction with water and wastewater services, demographic factors, communication with the utility, and perceived trustworthiness. Through a survey of the UK public (n = 760), we found that 77% of the respondents stated they were satisfied with their water and wastewater services. Statistical analysis highlighted significant demographic differences in the level of satisfaction, particularly by age, with higher satisfaction in older respondents. We found that the degree to which respondents think their water utility can be trusted to provide accurate information predicted satisfaction, as did more frequent engagement with a water utility’s social media. More frequently contacting a water utility or discussing water services with friends and family both negatively predicted satisfaction. Meeting the public’s expectations for accurate and timely information is coupled with their perceptions of a water utility’s trustworthiness and their satisfaction with water and wastewater services. Water utilities may increase the satisfaction of their customers through strategies and initiatives that are attentive to the credibility of the information they provide and the means through which they provide it. In summary, our research indicates that the water sector’s ambition to develop more diverse (and inclusive) customer engagement experiences, including through online platforms and social media, may deliver benefits (particularly with the less engaged and younger age groups across varying regional water governance contexts) that complement overall efforts to build trust and satisfaction, but we acknowledge that these are complex long-term processes.