Households’ willingness to install water meter case study: Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador

Water resources are essential for socioeconomic growth, ensuring human survival, and play an integral role in sustainable development (UN Water, 2015). Water resources benefit societies in a variety of forms and include advantages of a commodity nature in the contexts of industry, agriculture, and residents (Young & Loomis, 2014). As income rises and populations expand, water usage also grows to meet the demands of agriculture, industries, and households alike. This puts pressure on the limited freshwater reservoirs around the world (Watts et al., 2015). With climate change underway, temperatures will change, rainfall will become less predictable, and water systems may face challenges, so it is important for communities to prepare for what lies ahead (Watts et al., 2015). Such shifts increase the potential for socioeconomic and environmental disruptions and significantly impact the management and planning of water resources in the future (Gleick, 1989). In the City of Corner Brook, NL, water usage is not directly metered, and residents are not charged based on the amount of water they consume. Instead, the residents of Corner Brook pay an annual water and sewage tax, which is included in the property tax receipt. In fact, Corner Brook residents do not pay their water bills based on their consumption levels, which may lead to negligence and over-consumption within the households, making the current approach environmentally unsustainable. A binary choice model is applied to determine what affects people’s willingness to install water meters, relying on survey data collected directly from residents. The results show that a few key factors make it more likely for people to consider installing a meter. For example, older residents, those who know how much installation costs, people awareness of NL’s high water use per person, and those who believe meters help conserve water were more open to the idea. On the other hand, some factors make residents less interested in adopting water meters. Families with more members saw meters as an added expense. People with higher education levels may think that managing water conservation should be handled by the government, not individuals. Retired residents and those who are satisfied with the current water pricing system are also less likely to support installation. These findings highlight both the variables that encourage and discourage water meter adoption. Using these insights, policymakers could create strategies to get more homes to install meters, improving water use and solving water management issues in the city of Corner Brook.