Author(s)

T. Hill & G. Symmonds

Abstract

Water scarcity is a looming problem and changing individual behaviour to compensate is a key constituent of sustainability. Behavioural change is a complex task requiring a combination of appeals, information, financial and social influences, and barrier elimination efforts. Implementing these concepts has been notoriously difficult, and it is only recently that advances in data access and presentment have allowed for a program that encourages behavioural change: providing a detailed, highly granular personalized understanding of consumption patterns, which, combined with financial incentives and social pressures, results in sustained resource conservation. Developing a rate design to complement the demand destruction and ensure the financial health of the utility is a vitally important component in achieving sustainability. Keywords: water conservation, water sustainability, rate design, behavioural change, smart grid for water, rebate threshold rates, water demand destruction, price elasticity of water.

Keywords

water conservation, water sustainability, rate design, behavioural change, smart grid for water, rebate threshold rates, water demand destruction, price elasticity of water