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Impacts of Metering on Residential Water Use in California
Author(s) -
Tanverakul Stephanie A.,
Lee Juneseok
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.5942/jawwa.2015.107.0005
Subject(s) - metering mode , geography , environmental science , water conservation , water consumption , water use , agricultural economics , water resource management , water resources , engineering , ecology , mechanical engineering , economics , biology
The impact of water metering on residential household consumption was evaluated in the inland Northern and Central California cities of Bakersfield, Chico, and Visalia. In 2009, California Water Service Co. (Cal Water) began a process of installing water meters on unmetered single‐family residences and switching from unmetered flat rates to volumetric billing rates. Panel data were studied for two groups: single‐family residences being metered for the first time (treatment group) and already‐metered single‐family residences (comparison group). In Bakersfield, Chico, and Visalia, unmetered residences used more water than comparable metered residences by an average of 15, 22, and 31%, respectively. After six months of metering, average monthly water consumption decreased within the newly metered residences by 21% in Bakersfield, 13% in Chico, and 17% in Visalia. This research shows the impacts of meter installation on residential water conservation efforts and should be helpful in planning water utility conservation programs.