farmers’ willingness to use and pay for treated wastewater in the context of untreated wastewater availability

This study investigated farmers’ willingness to use (wtu) and to pay (wtp) for recycled water for irrigation in a water-scarce region of ardabil province, iran, where untreated sewage is available and partly used for irrigation. a sample of 261 farmers was selected for data collection and the necessary data were gathered through face-to-face interviews the study utilized contingent valuation method (cvm) and binary probit model. respondents were proposed with four different qualities of treated sewage and three price options for the treated outflow from the treatment plant. results indicated that a majority of farmers (76.2%) were willing to use treated sewage for irrigation. the wtu increased significantly with treated effluent quality, rising from 11.5% to 52.5% to 97.7%, before stabilizing at 84.3%; a perception that the highest proposed quality is suitable to drink may have tempered adoption at the upper end. more than half of the farmers (57.9%) expressed willingness to pay the same price as freshwater (150000 rials per hour, rls/h) for recycled water. only 23.4% were willing to pay a higher price (187500 rls/h), while 83.9% were willing to pay the lowest price (112500 rls/h). among the variables studied, environmental concern had the most significant influence on wtu, whereas management-related factors most strongly affected wtp. effective incentives, such as reducing the price of treated wastewater in relation to its quality, training on management, health, and safety aspects of treated wastewater use, and promoting farmers' confidence in water quality can improve both wtu and wtp for treated wastewater. this study investigated farmers’ willingness to use (wtu) and to pay (wtp) for recycled water for irrigation in a water-scarce region of ardabil province, iran, where untreated sewage is available and partly used for irrigation. a sample of 261 farmers was selected for data collection and the necessary data were gathered through face-to-face interviews the study utilized contingent valuation method (cvm) and binary probit model. respondents were proposed with four different qualities of treated sewage and three price options for the treated outflow from the treatment plant. results indicated that a majority of farmers (76.2%) were willing to use treated sewage for irrigation. the wtu increased significantly with treated effluent quality, rising from 11.5% to 52.5% to 97.7%, before stabilizing at 84.3%; a perception that the highest proposed quality is suitable to drink may have tempered adoption at the upper end. more than half of the farmers (57.9%) expressed willingness to pay the same price as freshwater (150000 rials per hour, rls/h) for recycled water. only 23.4% were willing to pay a higher price (187500 rls/h), while 83.9% were willing to pay the lowest price (112500 rls/h). among the variables studied, environmental concern had the most significant influence on wtu, whereas management-related factors most strongly affected wtp. effective incentives, such as reducing the price of treated wastewater in relation to its quality, training on management, health, and safety aspects of treated wastewater use, and promoting farmers' confidence in water quality can improve both wtu and wtp for treated wastewater.