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Pricing wastewater to save water: Are theory and practice transferable?

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  • Beecher, Janice
  • Gould, Tom

Abstract

Wastewater pricing by centralized utility systems enjoys little attention. Ongoing concern about water resource adequacy has prompted interest in deploying wastewater pricing to encourage water conservation. We emphasize that rate policy should be informed by an understanding of how essential water and wastewater services differ. Specifically, we ask whether a change in volumetric wastewater rates will induce a usage response like that anticipated for a comparable change in water rates. We observe that water is a resource input and wastewater is a byproduct of indoor water use that is largely nondiscretionary and unlikely to be very price-responsive.

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  • Beecher, Janice & Gould, Tom, 2018. "Pricing wastewater to save water: Are theory and practice transferable?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 81-87.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:52:y:2018:i:c:p:81-87
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2018.04.005
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    1. Zheng, Jiajia & Kamal, Muhammad Abdul, 2020. "The effect of household income on residential wastewater output: Evidence from urban China," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    2. Ruiz-Rosa, Inés & García-Rodríguez, Francisco J. & Antonova, Natalia, 2020. "Developing a methodology to recover the cost of wastewater reuse: A proposal based on the polluter pays principle," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Garrone, Paola & Grilli, Luca & Marzano, Riccardo, 2019. "Price elasticity of water demand considering scarcity and attitudes," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-1.
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    6. Jiajia Zheng & Muhammad Abdul Kamal & Assad Ullah, 2020. "The direct and indirect effects of China's wastewater treatment service on urban household wastewater discharge," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 1380-1400, September.
    7. Fuente, David, 2019. "The design and evaluation of water tariffs: A systematic review," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

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