Willingness to pay for ancillary water service improvements in Puerto Rico

Abstract

Water scarcity impedes economic development and can be expensive or infeasible to resolve in many developing countries with recurring water service outages. In such circumstances, water supply organizations may be able to improve ancillary water service attributes to alleviate the burden of service interruptions. We use a discrete choice experiment to estimate households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for improved water quality, coordinated scheduling of planned service interruptions, water use restrictions, and improved dissemination of information about upcoming service interruptions in Puerto Rico. The results indicate that households’ WTP varies considerably across attributes and is greatest ($ 28/month per household) for ensuring adequate water quality. Preferences for water service improvements vary across geographic locations and latent user groups.