Improved water-use efficiency is seen as a viable complement to, and in some instances, a substitute for, investments in long-term water supplies and infrastructure. This understanding of water efficiency includes outdoor as well as indoor WUE, nonresidential water customers as well as residential customers, and utility delivery efficiency as well as end use efficiency. At the heart of the new understanding of water efficiency is an economic standard: a good WUE program produces a level of benefits that exceed the costs required to undertake the program.
The objectives of this project were to (1) develop a rigorous and universally-applicable set of definitions of benefit and cost components from different perspectives, (2) compile, in an easily-accessible form, the best available information on water use efficiency (WUE) program costs and savings, and (3) provide clear guidance to water utilities on program cost and benefit estimation.
The research provides a conceptual framework organizing information about WUE programs (costs, savings, and benefits) in ways that make for more informed water resources decisions. Chapters are provided for each of these concepts. In addition, two planning models developed and tested in the research process--a Water Utility Direct Avoided Cost Model and a Benefit-Cost WUE Planning Model--are provided on CD-ROM. A compendium of working assumptions for WUE savings and costs estimates was compiled as part of this research. A survey was undertaken to better understand current water utility conservation planning practices.

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