Property Plus
Coimbatore
Water conservation
Cities and city utilities all across the country are looking for ways to save water as this critical resource becomes scarce or threatens to run out. Getting the consumers’ attention is seen as an important way to reduce consumption. While appealing to their good conscience is a good thing, it hardly works. The best way is economic incentives since money talks. What then should be the approach to incentivise water conservation? Here is a strategy for Bangalore admitt
edly starting with certain advantages.
Bangalore has every connection metered and an increasing block tariff due to historic reasons. The tariff, however, heavily subsidises domestic water with perverse incentives. For example, with a production cost of Rs. 24 a kilolitre (Rs.18 a kilolitre plus losses in the system of 37 per cent), a household which consumes 25,000 litres of water per month gets a subsidy of Rs.400 approximately per month.
This subsidisation is simply unsustainable.
On the other hand, if a household harvests rainwater and does not draw a drop of water from the BWSSB it still gets a bill of Rs. 48 covering the first slab. While the household has SAVED the BWSSB Rs.400, it has been penalised with a minimum bill.
How then to devise a pricing strategy to include rainwater or recycled water as an incentive for households to consume instead of BWSSB water?
Let us assume an average standard demand of 135 litres per person per day and an average family size of 4. Monthly demand would be 135 x 4 x 30 = 16,200 litres, say 16 kilolitres. This is a reasonable quantity of water a family is expected to consume in a month. Anything less than this shows frugality in water use, conservation and perhaps rainwater harvesting and water recycling, all deeds that the city needs to reward the family for.
Reward
How should the reward go to the family?
Let us assume that the family has only used 5 kilolitre of water in a month. Consumption below expected normal demand of 16 kilolitre is 16 – 5 = 11 KL. Subsidy that the family would have got from the BWSSB at 16 KL of consumption = 8 x 18 + 8 x 15 = Rs. 264
Let us define an incentive fund of Rs. 18 (the gross production cost of water to the BWSSB) minus Rs. 9 (a reasonable tariff for the lowest slab in the coming days) = Rs. 9 per kilolitre.
So, for every kilolitre less than 16 kilolitres consumed by a family in a month, it will get that saving of water in KL into Rs. 9 as an incentive amount to be set off against future bills. In this family’s case the incentive amount will be 11 KL x Rs. 9 = Rs. 99.
The family saves Rs. 99, the BWSSB saves Rs.165 — a win-win situation for both and for the city too in terms of the water released to be supplied to others which is 11 KL per month.
Now, if this were to be applied all across the city to the nearly six lakh connections, it would not require anything except an additional row in the water bill. No extra administrative costs would also be expected and most importantly the subsidy would be a reward for those who showed good behaviour. One sees the need for such bold moves on the part of cities and city utilities.
A hard look at water tariffs and a revision is overdue as is the need to economically incentivise the wise water user. Will such water wisdom dawn on us?
S.VISHWANATH
www.rainwaterclub. org
www.arghyam.org
zenrainman@gmail. com
080-23641690
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