Economic implications of water efficiency measures II: cost effectiveness of composite strategies

Abstract

This paper briefly describes the development and application of a tool for generating micro-components (e.g. baths, taps, showers, WCs, washing machines and dishwashers) based water efficient composite strategies and assesses their cost effectiveness using a number of economic assessment methods. A composite strategy is defined as a combination of micro-components that could deliver a given water efficiency level. The assessment results suggest that the economic performance of water efficient composite strategies varies considerably. There is no linear relationship between water and energy consumption and the total cost associated with the strategies. Additionally, conventional cost assessment methods appear to be unsuitable for identifying the least cost options to consumers.