Willingness to Pay for Water Reuse in Small Communities in the United States

Abstract Water reuse is an important strategy to supplement water demand in water scarce areas. We estimate the willingness to pay for water reuse in a national US sample of rural small systems using a contingent valuation survey. We find a $49 mean willingness to pay per month to adopt water reuse and avoid water restrictions in households from small water systems. We also find that there is significant variation in the willingness to pay by the respondents' experience with water reuse and their concern over water shortages. These findings suggest that there is significant willingness to adopt water reuse in areas that face water restrictions, and that the water charges would be high enough to sustain operating expenses in many small systems.