A fuzzy approach to water pricing: the case of Shanghai

Abstract

In this article, we device a methodology to value water using Fuzzy theory that incorporates not only the physical cost of delivery but also the social and sustainable resource costs that water regulators often ignore. Specifically, we include the cost of water quality, cost of water resource, gross domestic product per capita and the household’s willingness to pay into our estimation. We demonstrate the approach using the household sector in Shanghai where the residents face potential water shortage and poor water quality. We estimate a theoretical price of 1.82 Chinese Yuan per cubic meter for the average household.