By Chang Jiwen, Xiong Xiaoping & Wang Huaping, Research Team on “The Incentive Mechanism and Policies for the Construction of a Water-Saving Society”, Institute of Resources and Environmental Policies, DRC

Research Report, No.252, 2021 (Total 6317) 2021-9-8

Abstract: Currently, a unified legislation on domestic water supply in China’s villages and towns is still absent. Different water-supply mode and management mode will bring about difficulties in fostering water-saving awareness, causing relatively wide differences in water-saving effects. Different water prices are hard to truly reflect the cost of water supply, leading to imbalanced water saving awareness by the users and water-saving effects. Imperfect water-supply pipeline construction and the inadequate involvement of market entities in the operation, management and maintenance projects will influence the effective utilization rate of water resources. The deficiency of sewage disposal charge mechanism will exert impacts on the reuse of wastewater. This paper notes that relevant government departments need to formulate a water price calculation standard according to different water-supply mode and management mode. Based on the water-supply contract in different categories, they need to simplify the calculation of water charge and collection procedures. It is advisable for them to install water meters across the board, strengthen policies on water supply charges and sewage disposal charges and raise the progressive water consumption price in a reasonable manner so as to fully reveal the value of water resources and true costs of water supply. Efforts need to be made to support the building of distributed septic tank and drainage pipeline and centralized sewage treatment facilities in light of different conditions in different villages and towns, and the construction cost can be shared by fiscal capital, the village government and villagers in proportion. Besides, they need to encourage the third party professional service institutions to participate in the management of water resources in villages and towns, enhance the overall level of water saving and implement policy mix covering investment, credit and loan, finance and taxation.

Keywords: water supply, sewage, water price, economic policy, villages and towns