Effect On Consumption
There is disagreement as to the effect of metering and water pricing on water consumption. The price elasticity of metered water demand varies greatly depending on local conditions. The effect of volumetric water pricing on consumption tends to be higher if the water bill represents a significant share in household expenditures. There is evidence from the UK that there is an instant drop in consumption of some 10% when meters are being installed. In Hamburg, Germany, domestic water consumption for metered apartments (112 liter/capita/day) was 18% lower than for unmetered apartments (137 liter/capita/day) in 1992. The municipal utility Hamburger Wasserwerke GmbH had installed more than 40,000 water meters in individual apartments of older houses since 1985. All new apartments had to be metered by law. Previously there had been only a single meter for the entire house in multi-apartment houses.
Read more about this topic: Water Meter
Famous quotes containing the words effect and/or consumption:
“I guess what I’ve really discovered is the humanizing effect of children in my life—stretching me, humbling me. Maybe my thighs aren’t as thin as they used to be. Maybe my getaways aren’t as glamorous. Still I like the woman that motherhood has helped me to become.”
—Susan Lapinski (20th century)
“To expect to increase prices and then to maintain them at a higher level by means of a plan which must of necessity increase production while decreasing consumption is to fly in the face of an economic law as well established as any law of nature.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)