Adapting to Less Water: Household Willingness to Pay for Decentralised Water Systems in Urban Australia

Abstract

In South East Queensland (SEQ), extended periods of drought and unprecedented population growth have resulted in a water strategy reliant on permanent water conservation measures. As a result, there has been increasing emphasis on the installation of decentralised water systems at the household level, in particular, rainwater tanks and greywater systems to ease the water shortage stress. Results from a survey of 590 households in SEQ reveal that willingness to pay (WTP) for rainwater tanks and greywater systems range from $800 to $7,400 and from $1,700 to $14,100, respectively. When compared to the actual market price, WTP is substantially lower and subsidies will be required to encourage adoption. Nonetheless, a subsidy of $500 can lead to 100 % uptake of greywater diversion devices. Hence, the policy implication is that not all devices are preferred and subsidising greywater diversion devices would lead to the highest level of uptake with the least amount of subsidy spending.