Water metering in multiflat highrises as a demand management instrument for former Soviet republics as assessed by current practices in Eastern Europe and Lviv, Ukraine

Many developing countries, with the assistance of more developed nations are constructing physical infrastructure to accommodate rapid urban population growth. The opposite is occurring in the former Soviet Union (FSU). Most cities in the FSU have significant infrastructure that cannot be maintained because government funding is no longer available owing to economic decline in 1991. Water and wastewater infrastructure projects previously funded through the central government must now be implemented at the local level to recover sufficient funds to operate water and wastewater utilities.;Cost recovery at the local level will require municipal water managers to evaluate water and wastewater administrative, operational, and physical components to determine strategies offering the best return on investment. Water demand management measures including metering of highrises may be among investment strategies considered.;This research (1) investigated the status of metering, metering implementation, transition policies, various outcomes and lessons learned in several Eastern European cities, (2) defined circumstances which affect metering in selected cities in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, and (3) estimated if metering is warranted in multiflat highrises in Lviv, Ukraine, by performing a cost-benefit analysis of metering options.;A significant result of this study was that on the basis of cost-savings alone, volumetric-based master metering in multiflat highrises should be advocated in Lviv, Ukraine. Other significant results were that residents of multiflat highrises will begin to meter their apartments if the price of water is high relative to income. Moreover, as long as there is a shut-off valve at each master meter, a shut-off policy for non-payment can be enforced, even if there are not individual cut-off valves for each apartment.