Using Choice Modelling to Reveal Waste Water Preferences in Regional Victoria

Water reuse and recycling is the subject of intense scrutiny in Australia as demand for the resource approaches sustainable supply limits. In many cases this has resulted in substantive work being undertaken to understand the engineering or technical solutions to recycling problems. In addition, much of the focus on waste water recycling is centred on larger urban communities where the scale of engineering works is most likely to prove financially defensible. However, focusing attention solely on recycling from this relatively narrow perspective overlooks the broader catchment-wide benefits of improved waste water treatment, particularly in smaller communities. This paper contends that improving waste water treatment in such communities provides significant recycling opportunities that extend beyond the immediate locale. On this premise, the paper then explores the growing interest in improved waste water treatment in rural Victoria before offering a methodology for quantifying individual preferences in small towns.