The price of water is a key determinant of both the economic efficiency and the environmental effectiveness of water services. This book reviews current practices and recent trends in water pricing practices for the household, agriculture, and industrial sectors in OECD countries. It addresses pricing issues related to the full range of water services, including public supplies, sewage treatment and disposal, abstraction and discharge fees, and cost recovery. It also outlines recent developments in institutional arrangements related to water pricing, and briefly considers questions concerning the affordability of water services and the responsiveness of water demands to changes in price levels. Its broad coverage of issues, sectors, and countries makes it a unique overview of trends in the water pricing field.

Chapter 1. Executive Summary
Chapter 2. Introduction
Chapter 3. Context
-3.1 Demand for Water
-3.2 Environmental Effects of Water Use
-3.3 Links to Sustainable Development
Chapter 4. Recent Institutional Developments
-4.1 Evolution at the International Level
-4.2 Evolution at the National Level
Chapter 5. Public Water Supply
-5.1 Tariff Structures
-5.2 Tariff Levels
Chapter 6. Direct Abstractions
-6.1 Sources of Industrial Water
-6.2 Abstraction Charges
Chapter 7. Sewerage and Sewage Disposal
-7.1 Domestic Sewerage and Sewage Treatment
-7.2 Industrial Sewage Services Provided by the Public System
-7.3 Trade Effluent Charges
-7.4 Direct Discharges
Chapter 8. Subsidies
-8.1 Subsidies to the Household Water Supply
-8.2 Subsidies to the Industrial Water Supply
-8.3 Subsidies to Irrigation Water Supply
-8.4 Subsidies to Sewerage and Sewage Disposal
-8.5 Cross Subsidies
Chapter 9. Effects of Water Pricing on Demand
-9.1 Effects of Price Changes on Household Water Demand
-9.2 Effects of Price Changes on Industrial Water Demand
-9.3 Effects of Price Changes on Agricultural Water Demand
Chapter 10. Social Tariffs and Affordability
-10.1 Access to the Public Water Supply
-10.2 Tariff-Based Solutions to Affordability Problems
-10.3 Target Group Solutions to Affordability Problems
-10.4 Measures of Aggregate Affordability
Chapter 11. Conclusions
-11.1 Context and Institutional Change
-11.2 Public Water Supply Systems
-11.3 Abstractions
-11.4 Sewerage and Sewage Disposal
-11.5 Subsidies
-11.6 Effects of Pricing on Water Demand
-11.7 Social Objectives
Annex: Full Cost Recovery
References