WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN DRINKING-WATER QUALITY

In this paper, data from a 1991 survey of Georgia residents were used to study people's willingness to pay (WTP) for improvements in drinking water quality and people's perceptions of potential groundwater contamination. Results showed that 27% of the respondents served by public water supplies rated drinking water quality as poor, and 23% were uncertain about their drinking water quality. The contingent valuation method was used to estimate WTP using a checklist format. The median estimated WTP was $5.49 per month above their current water bills for people on public systems and $7.38 for those using private wells, after rejecting outliers and using the maximum likelihood method. The aggregate WTP for all of Georgia was estimated to be about $111.5 million per year for public water users and $42.3 million per year for private well owners. This aggregate WTP can serve as an estimate of benefits to consumers from improvements in drinking water quality statewide.