The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Residential Water Use: A Cross-Section Time-Series Analysis of Tucson, Arizona

Abstract

The impact of a selected set of socioeconomic variables on residential water consumption per household is examined using a combined cross-section time-series analysis by census tract for Tucson, Arizona for 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977. The estimated income elasticity of demand for water is .23, which means that a 10-percent increase in income produces a 2.3 percent increase in water use. Additionally, the number of persons per household and the percent of households with head age 65 or more also are shown to have a strong positive relationship to water use. New residential units are shown to have a strong tendency to utilize less water than older units, presumable because of a shift away from water using yards. Both Black and Spanish-surnamed dominated areas tend to consume a lower than expected amount of water for their income and family size characteristics, but the coefficients on these variables are not sufficiently strong to accept this relationship.