Sustainable urban water tariff to long-term: proposal for intermediate cities in developing countries

Abstract

Abstract:The European Water Directive and the Association of Regulators of Water and Sanitation of the Americas (ADERASA) establish that tariffs for drinking water services shall be set in a way that they cover all the environmental costs stemming from an efficient service. However, many countries don t consider environmental aspects in their tariffs, and in many cases they do not even cover production costs. The present research develop an economic model based on the recovery costs, so that municipal or public entities responsible for the supply of drinking water achieve financial sustainability independently of the government's economic contributions, which allows them to provide the service efficiently and carry out actions to benefit the conservation of the natural vegetation cover in the water recharge areas where the basins are located. The calculated tariff aimed at improving service efficiency of the service was validated for an intermediate city in the south of Ecuador, obtaining as a result the value of 0.52 USD per cubic meter of drinking wáter.