The impact of price on residential water demand: (a comparative study)

M.Comm.Southern Africa is considered by the rest of the world to be a water scarce region. Previously within the region water was not regarded as a high profile subject in the development process. A paradigm shift is required in the region to recognise the need to concentrate on demand management instead. The paper briefly examines the climatic conditions as a contributing factor to scarcity of the water resources. It further focuses on the human factor which is regarded as a factor that can be managed as opposed to the climatic conditions. In managing the human factor, the usage of water cannot remain the same as it was before the scarcity problem that the SADC region is faced with. It is also recognised that water resource is necessary for survival, therefore basic human requirements are examined. This scarcity makes water to be regarded as an economic good. The paper further explains the elements that make water to be regarded as an economic good. Water being an economic good, it commands a price. The study explains pricing the resource as the only method of making the population understand about the importance of the resource. Different pricing methods are explained in detail. To demonstrate this demand management of water the study interrogates three cities namely Soweto, Cape Town and Durban. In this interrogation the demand management techniques used and their efficiency are compared and contrasted to ascertain the efficiency of the chosen demand management techniques and the existence of gaps within these techniques