Rising infrastructure costs for water providers and the rising cost of water for households pose several challenges for water providers, policy makers, and the research community. Consumers may utilize several strategies for coping with rising water costs including reduced water use or spending reductions on other household goods and services. To provide a first glance at the link between rising water bills and consumer spending, this study analyzes data from a household survey in the United States to understand how consumers may change spending behavior given various water bill increase scenarios. Results of this analysis provide insights into the demographics of households likely to be affected, the industries that could be affected, and at what bill increase levels these trends are most pronounced. While additional research on this topic is needed, these results suggest a stronger emphasis on long-term water management planning and allocation of resources to building and maintaining water infrastructure may be required. For utilities, this means a consideration of nonrevenue sources of funds to pay for rising water costs and strategies for making water more affordable for customers without deferring infrastructure improvements.

给水供应商增加的基础设施成本和给家庭增加的水成本给水供应商，决策者和研究界带来了一些挑战。消费者可以采用几种策略来应对水价上涨的问题，包括减少用水量或减少其他家庭用品和服务的支出。为了第一眼看出水费上涨与消费者支出之间的联系，本研究分析了来自美国一项家庭调查的数据，以了解在各种水费上涨情况下，消费者如何改变支出行为。该分析的结果提供了对可能受影响的家庭的人口统计数据，可能受影响的行业以及最显着的账单上涨水平的见解。尽管需要对该主题进行更多研究，但这些结果表明，我们将更加重视长期水管理计划，并可能需要分配资源来建设和维护水基础设施。对于公用事业而言，这意味着要考虑使用非收入资金来支付不断上涨的水费，以及在不影响基础设施改善的前提下使客户更负担得起水的策略。