Structure des Coûts des Stations d'Epuration en Suisse et Gestion Efficace des Eaux Usées

In this paper we analyze the production process of water treatment utilities in Switzerland. The production process possesses returns to scale and decreasing marginal costs. These results have some implications for water pollution policies. For "direct" polluters, the actual policy is inefficient. We show that economies may be realized with a different pollution treatment effort between utilities. Moreover, contrary to traditional cases analyzed in the literature, a pollution tax possesses perverse effects. Pollution permits do not have this disadvantage. For "indirect" polluters, behaviour is determined by utilities' tariffs. We propose some improvements to existing tariffs, but implementation is prevented by difficulties in measuring water pollution of households and small enterprises.