Selecting a cost-effective solution for public drinking water supply systems requires an understanding of the variables influencing the price of producing drinking water. The filtration of raw water is a significant factor in determining the cost of water treatment. Despite being a widely recognised ecosystem service, the cost of water purification has not yet been extensively quantified.

In a newly published article in the One Ecosystem journal, written by members of the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, a new analysis of drinking water treatment costs is presented with an application to Groundwater Purification Valuation.

The author tested the impact of the type of raw water, the amount of drinking water produced, electric power consumption and treatment technologies and chemicals.

The findings of her research revealed that producing drinking water from groundwater was less expensive than doing so from surface water. Even while producing drinking water from groundwater was less expensive than doing it with surface water, some technologies, including those used to remove chlorine or manganese, raised the cost of production.

After that, the regression's results were used to estimate the cost of groundwater filtration. The system of environmental-economic accounting-ecosystem accounting went on to apply the valuation for the creation of financial drinking water accounts.

In conclusion, the paper states that continued research is needed to improve estimated relationships. First, a panel data analysis would help to mitigate the problem of missing companies´ characteristics. Likewise, more research is needed to quantify relationships between treatment costs and landscape characteristics as the links between ecosystem types and water quality are well established.

Read the full article here.