Improved Estimates of Economic Damages from Residential Use of Mineralized Water

摘要

The purpose of this study was to develop improved techniques for measuring thedamages to households from salinity in residential water supplies and to test these techniques on a significant case study region. We chose the Arkansas River basin in Central and Southeastern Colorado as the study area, because the range of salinity observed in household supplies is much wider than that addressed in previous studies. The Arkansas basin provides a natural experiment on the effects of salinity on residential water users. We adapted and extended techniques previously developed in applied statistics to study the effects of water quality on the durability of household appliances. Improvements in sample design, questionnaire wording, and statistical analysis were drawn upon to more accurately measure effects of water quality on durability of household appliances. Our updated estimates reflect technological improvements in appliance durability and in household piping materials since data were last collected. We adapted and extended the accelerated-testing method to model the effect of salinity on the lifetimes of appliances.