Promotion of residential water conservation measures in South Africa: the role of water-saving equipment

Djiby Racine Thiam (), Ariel Dinar and Herbert Ntuli
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Djiby Racine Thiam: University of Cape Town
Ariel Dinar: University of California

Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, 2021, vol. 23, issue 1, No 8, 173-210

Abstract: Abstract In many urban settings around the world the severity of water scarcity has induced changes in household behavior, leading to reduction in the volume of water demanded. One of the most widely used strategies is the adoption of water-saving equipment that collects, stores and eventually treats wastewater from various sources within the household. This paper investigates the factors that drive adoption of water-saving equipment in Cape Town, South Africa, following the catastrophic “Day Zero” water crisis in 2018. First, the paper develops a disaggregated technology diffusion model. Second, we make use of choice experiments to determine the attribute levels and socioeconomic characteristics that influence adoption of water-saving equipment in urban communities in South Africa. Data collected from a sample of 465 representative households in Cape Town are used in a choice modelling framework. Latent class analysis (LCA) is compared with both multinomial logit and conditional logit models to estimate marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for adoption of water-saving equipment. The LCA identified three household classes with distinct preferences, suggesting divergence in adoption of water-saving equipment.

Keywords: Greywater technology diffusion; Choice experiment; Latent class analysis; Water scarcity; Cape town; South africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D04 O33 Q (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10018-020-00286-3

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