How does the demand for drinking water in the Czech Republic change due to changes in its price? How do we compare with other EU countries? A comparative study shows that the price of water has a significant impact on demand, especially in the long run.

The European Commission has published an extensive comparative study on the calculation of price and pension elasticity of demand for drinking water for all 28 EU countries. The IREAS team worked on a case study for the Czech Republic.

It is clear from the results that the water price is an effective tool for managing water allocation as water customers respond to its change by adjusting the demanded quantity (this adjustment is less pronounced in the short term and more pronounced over a long period of time).

Project team: Lenka Slavíková, Jan Macháč

Download: REYNAUD, Arnaud. Modelling Household Water Demand in Europe – Insights from a Cross-Country Econometric Analysis of EU-28 countries. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2015. ISBN 978-92-79-48998-3.