Linking water pricing with users conservation behaviour in selected households in Lahore, Pakistan

Research was conducted to assess users’ information, knowledge, attitude and practice in the usage of water and its conservation in Lahore and suggest appropriate options for policy makers to change the tariff structure and introduce water conservation programs. The present research is a preliminary effort to do so and uses mixed methods approach including; survey method (questionnaires, interviews), direct observations of households and case study and semi structured interviews to know the perspective of Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) staff. The results show users waste a lot of water in various activities in daily life due to under pricing of water, lack of awareness and incentive for water conservation. Metering for all, rising block tariffs and awareness raising for water conservation is proposed.