Who knows the price of water services, and does it make a difference? An exploratory study with domestic consumers in Portugal

• Author(s): Pinto, Lígia ; Ramísio, Paulo J. ; Valente, Marieta
• Date: 2022
• Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/90314
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Price instruments; Water wise consumption; Regulation
• Document Type: Conference paper
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Universidade do Minho

Description

Water scarcity represents an increasingly worldwide concern. Policies designed to address water scarcity either focus on the water supply or consumers’ demand. This paper proposes to analyze the relevance that water price plays in regulating households’ demand and, the role it could play if set differently, to induce more sustainable water use. In particular, in Portugal, the quantity of water can represent less than 50% of the water bill, since several other components are included. The hypothesis tested, and corroborated, is that most consumers are not aware of what they pay for water, indicating that price may not play a moderating effect on the consumer. Following a national survey of a sample of the Portuguese population, it was confirmed that water price is not deemed relevant to condition water consumption, even though water issues such as pollution and water scarcity are identified as relevant problems by respondents.