Freshwater use charging for sanitation: mechanisms to encourage efficiency and meet the basic needs

Abstract

Freshwater use charging as an economic instrument must guide users as to the value of water resources and encourage the struggle against wasteful use. Recent methodologies include mechanisms related to good practices in the use of water resources, measured in sanitation sector by the indicator of percentage losses in distribution. However, leakages that occurred in the previous stages are ignored, as well as the essentiality of the service for society. Using variables that cover the entire supply system since withdrawn point, this paper proposes a freshwater charging methodology that conceptually expand and penalizes real losses, while imputing discounts resulting from the water use to supply a minimum volume to meet basic needs of the population. The result is a simple and transparent equation, with homogeneity in the variables charged, which might have the punishment and privileges adjusted to the specificities of the watershed in which it is applied.

Keywords:
water supply; freshwater charge; rational use; basic needs use; water losses