Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

Reprinted with permission from Logar, I., Brouwer, R., Maurer, M., Ort, C. (2014). Cost-benefit analysis of the Swiss national policy on reducing micropollutants in treated wastewater. Environmental Science & Technology 48(21): 12500-12508. Copyright 2014 American Chemical Society.

The main objective of this research is to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of water quality improvement that would be achieved through upgrading of wastewater treatment plants in Switzerland with the aim of reducing the levels of micropollutants. This project will identify the total costs of investments in terms of their net present value, which are needed for the planned upgrading of wastewater treatment plants. In the second step, the benefits of enhanced water quality that would result from these investments will be estimated based on a survey. The choice experiment will be applied in order to elicit the willingness to pay of Swiss residents for higher water quality resulting from reduced levels of micropollutants. The experimental design will consist of defining an increase in water quality, measured by a change in the levels of different micropollutants. Those changes will be translated into effects on human health and ecosystems in order to make them easily understandable to survey respondents. The respondents will also be carefully informed about uncertainties associated with the effects of micropollutants. Furthermore, the survey will examine the perceptions and awareness of Swiss residents about the current water quality, micropollutants, and the price they are presently paying for drinking water and wastewater services. Based on a comparison of costs and benefits of upgrading wastewater treatment plants, the project will conclude whether or not the investment is justified from an economic point of view.

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      authors => protected'Logar,&nbsp;I.; Brouwer,&nbsp;R.; Maurer,&nbsp;M.; Ort,&nbsp;C.' (63 chars)
      title => protected'Cost-benefit analysis of the Swiss national policy on reducing micropollutan
         ts in treated wastewater' (100 chars)
      journal => protected'Environmental Science and Technology' (36 chars)
      year => protected2014 (integer)
      volume => protected48 (integer)
      issue => protected'21' (2 chars)
      startpage => protected'12500' (5 chars)
      otherpage => protected'12508' (5 chars)
      categories => protected'' (0 chars)
      description => protected'Contamination of freshwater with micropollutants (MPs) is a growing concern 
         worldwide. Even at very low concentrations, MPs can have adverse effects on 
         aquatic ecosystems and possibly also on human health. Switzerland is one of 
         the first countries to start implementing a national policy to reduce MPs in
          the effluents of municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs). This paper estim
         ates the benefits of upgrading STPs based on public’s stated preferences. 
         To assess public demand for the reduction of the environmental and health ri
         sks of MPs, we conducted a choice experiment in a national online survey. Th
         e results indicate that the average willingness to pay per household is CHF 
         100 (US$ 73) annually for reducing the potential environmental risk of MPs t
         o a low level. These benefits, aggregated over households in the catchment o
         f the STPs to be upgraded, generate a total annual economic value of CHF 155
          million (US$ 113 million). This compares with estimated annual costs for up
         grading 123 STPs of CHF 133 million (US$ 97 million) or CHF 86 (US$ 63) per 
         household connected to these STPs. Hence, a cost-benefit analysis justifies 
         the investment decision from an economic point of view and supports the impl
         ementation of the national policy in the ongoing political discussion.' (1286 chars)
      serialnumber => protected'0013-936X' (9 chars)
      doi => protected'10.1021/es502338j' (17 chars)
      uid => protected7800 (integer)
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Logar, I.; Brouwer, R.; Maurer, M.; Ort, C. (2014) Cost-benefit analysis of the Swiss national policy on reducing micropollutants in treated wastewater, Environmental Science and Technology, 48(21), 12500-12508, doi:10.1021/es502338j, Institutional Repository

Prof. Dr. Max Maurer +41 58 765 5386 Send Mail

Dr. Christoph Ort +41 58 765 5277 Send Mail

Department Environmental Social Sciences

Cost-benefit analysis of micropollutant reduction through upgrading of wastewater treatment plants in Switzerland

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