Pretest analyses of water demand in thirty communities

Abstract

Using 3 years of monthly data for 30 carefully selected Texas communities, several characteristics of community water demand are investigated. The average price versus marginal price specification issue is examined in the same manner as preceding literature and again demonstrates the superiority of the average price approach. More original contributions identify (1) the need to include sewer rates in water demand models, (2) the importance of studying seasonal demand rather than annual demand, (3) seasonal variations in the price elasticity of demand, and (4) an interesting index for relating monthly community water demand to monthly climatic conditions.