The valuation of water quality: Effects of mixing different drinking water qualities

As water supplies increasingly turn to use desalination technologies it becomes relevant to consider the options for remineralization and blending with mineral rich water resources. We present a method for analyzing economic consequences due to changes in drinking water mineral content. Included impacts are cardiovascular diseases, dental caries, atopic eczema, lifetime of dish and clothes washing machines, heat exchangers, distribution systems, bottled water consumption and soap usage. The method includes an uncertainty assessment that ranks the impacts having the highest influence on the result and associated uncertainty. Effects are calculated for a scenario where 50% of Copenhagen's water supply is substituted by desalinated water. Without remineralization the total impact is expected to be negative (€−0.44 ± 0.2/m3) and individual impacts expected in the range of €0.01–0.51/m3 delivered water. Health impacts have the highest contribution to impact size and uncertainty. With remineralization it is possible to reduce several negative impacts and the total impact is expected to be positive (€0.14 ± 0.08/m3).