Publications by Shadi Eskaf
Water system interconnections provide a means of redistributing water from water systems with exc... more Water system interconnections provide a means of redistributing water from water systems with excess supply or capacity to water systems that need additional water. Interconnection contracts include both the buying and selling of water on a regular basis or for emergency purposes only. It is essential to describe and understand the network of water system interconnections in North Carolina prior to developing an overall policy for water resource management and planning at the state level. Data on community water system (CWS) ...
Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation, 2015
Journal - American Water Works Association, 2016
Water pricing can be one of the most effective methods to driving conservation and is also the pr... more Water pricing can be one of the most effective methods to driving conservation and is also the primary mechanism for recovering the revenue that a water utility needs to protect public health and the environment. The Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina and the Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter have written a report to help Texas water utilities use their water rates and financial policies to encourage customers to reduce their water use while maintaining the financial viability of the utility.
The Water Research Foundation (WRF) is a member-supported, international, 501(c)3 nonprofit organ... more The Water Research Foundation (WRF) is a member-supported, international, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that sponsors research that enables water utilities, public health agencies, and other professionals to provide safe and affordable drinking water to consumers.
W ater utilities in the United States struggle over how to set policies, design rate structures, ... more W ater utilities in the United States struggle over how to set policies, design rate structures, and implement communication procedures that are effective and appropriate to their customer base. Adding to the complexity of these tasks is that water management requires local planning, and cookie-cutter strategies often fail to consider that customer characteristics and water demand vary from one town to the next, even within the same state or geographic region. For example, the same conservation initiative that succeeds at one utility may fail to reach its conservation goals or costs much more at a neighboring utility, solely because customers in the two communities have different water use patterns. Consequently, the revenue effects of the conservation initiative will be vastly different for the two utilities.
Public Works Management & …, Jan 1, 2009
This article tests the importance of cost, demand, institutional and geographic factors on the bi... more This article tests the importance of cost, demand, institutional and geographic factors on the bills that consumers pay for water and sewer service in North Carolina and the pricing signals utilities send to customers. The authors apply spatial regression models to test whether other factors besides costs drive rate-setting practices. Results indicate that cost factors, operating ratio, temperature, the application of "outside" rates, and utilities’ primary importance on affordable rates affect combined water and sewer bills at average levels of residential consumption. The study also finds that bills are significantly and positively correlated to bills paid in nearby utilities. Community income and the percent of customers below the poverty line are weakly associated with combined bills. However, utilities facing higher growth rates and those that value conservation are no more likely to send stronger pricing signals than others.
Customer water-use data and analyses are essential to understanding water use among different sub... more Customer water-use data and analyses are essential to understanding water use among different subgroups of customers, planning and implementing successful water conservation programs with appropriate water-saving goals, and setting rates that effectively meet utility objectives. By segmenting a customer base by water use and benchmarking consumption over time, utilities can better design and target conservation programs and rate structures. Water-use indicators can be used to categorize each customer’s water use patterns over a period of time and identify subgroups of customers with similar patterns. These subgroups go beyond the sometimes ambiguous and generic classification of “residential” or “commercial, industrial and institutional (CII)” customers, to a more precise categorization of individual customers based on their own water-use patterns. This method segments a customer base further within the larger and more traditional classifications to help utilities better understand customer consumption patterns. Using the proposed indicators in this document will guide a utility to divide its customers into several subgroups based on unique water-use patterns.
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Publications by Shadi Eskaf