Historical Political Ecology of Water: Access to Municipal Drinking Water in Colonial Lima, Peru (1578–1700)

2015 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha G. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Water Access

scholarly journals Towards A Situated Urban Political Ecology Analysis of Packaged Drinking Water Supply

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Kooy ◽  
Carolin Walter
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Access ◽  
Urban Political Ecology ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Choices

The inclusion of packaged drinking water (PDW) as a potentially improved source of safe drinking water under Goal 6.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) reflects its growing significance in cities where piped water has never been universal or safe for drinking. Using the case of PDW in Jakarta, Indonesia, we call for theorizing the politics of PDW through a situated Urban Political Ecology (UPE) analysis of the wider urban water distributions in which it is inserted. We do so in order to interrogate the unevenness of individual “choices” for securing safe drinking water, and highlight the ambiguity of PDW’s impact on inequalities in access. We first review research on PDW supply to specify how dominant theoretical approaches used for understanding PDW supply through analyses of the individual making “choices” for drinking water are power neutral, and why this matters for achieving equitable water access. We illustrate these points through a case study of PDW consumption by low income residents in Jakarta, and then identify how a situated UPE framework can help attend to the uneven societal relations shaping different socio-material conditions, within which individual “choices” for PDW are made. For Jakarta, connecting choices of the individual to power relations shaping geographies of urban water access and risk explains the rise in PDW consumption by low income residents as a situated response to the uneven exposure of poorer residents to environmental hazards. We conclude with reflections on how this can inform interventions towards more just distributions of safe drinking water.

scholarly journals PO 8430 A GEOSPATIAL APPROACH TO PREDICTING DIARRHEA PREVALENCE IN NIGERIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A36.3-A37
Author(s):  
Oluwasegun Adetunde
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Severe Acute Malnutrition ◽  
Oral Rehydration Salt ◽  
Acute Malnutrition ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Water Access ◽  
Mortality Pattern ◽  
Under Five ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Diarrhea Prevalence

BackgroundNigeria ranks second globally only behind India in under-five mortality prevalence. In Nigeria, 108.8 children die per 1000 live births before their 5th birthday. It is of note that diarrhoea (15.3% prevalence) is the second leading cause of under-five mortality in Nigeria after pneumonia. General poor hygiene and nutritional status are contributory factors to diarrhea.MethodsData was collected for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) using the weight for height z-value (WHZ) and/or oedema criteria. In addition, data on diarrhoea prevalence, oral rehydration salt therapy (ORST), improved source of drinking water and improved sanitation were collected. These were obtained for 36 states and federal capital territory (FCT) from the National Bureau of Statistics headquarters in FCT, Abuja for 2015. Correlation analysis was first carried out to determine relationships followed by geographically weighted regression analysis (GWR). GWR was used to predict under-five mortality pattern and accuracy mapped.ResultsObserved correlation coefficients to diarrhoea prevalence were 0.59,–0.49, −0.35 and −0.63 for SAM, ORST, improved drinking water access, and improved sanitation, respectively. R2 varied across states, though positive, from 0.29 in Akwa Ibom to 0.95 in Kebbi states. Standard deviation of residuals in the regression model ranged from −3.89 to 3.33 in Borno and Gombe states respectively, while Sokoto and Bauchi had 0.006 and 0.024 respectively, thus having the best accuracy in predictions across all states in the country. Both correlation and GWR were at p<0.05.ConclusionThe results obtained support literature, confirming the inverse relationship between ORST prevalence, improved drinking water access and improved sanitation to diarrhea prevalence. It also supports the already confirmed positive relationship between poor nutrition of children and susceptibility to diarrhoea. The study however expanded knowledge by incorporating geocomputation to predict diarrhoea prevalence.

scholarly journals Rural Drinking Water Safety under Climate Change: The Importance of Addressing Physical, Social, and Environmental Dimensions

Resources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Jeremy Kohlitz ◽  
Joanne Chong ◽  
Juliet Willetts
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Water Access ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Causal Pathways ◽  
Infrastructure Design

This paper explores the physical, social, and environmental dimensions of how climate change impacts affect drinking water safety in a rural context in developing countries. Climate impacts, such as contamination or the reduced availability of preferred drinking water sources due to climate-related hazards, threaten water safety in rural areas and these impacts will likely worsen as climate change accelerates. We qualitatively examined these impacts in a community in rural Vanuatu using three approaches side-by-side: adaptation, vulnerability, and resilience. We employed a mixed methods case study methodology that combined semi-structured interviews, technological and environmental surveys, and observations. We demonstrate the influence of physical infrastructure design, social structures mediating water access, and the availability of multiple sustainable water resources on water safety with respect to climate impacts. We also show how the initial problematization of how climate affects water safety can influence subsequent actions to address, or overlook, issues of infrastructure design and maintenance, social equity, and natural resource management for water access. Improvements to rural drinking water safety management in the context of climate change should take a pluralistic approach, informed by different conceptualizations of climate impacts, to account for the varied causal pathways of reduced water safety for different members of a community.

scholarly journals Providing Students with Adequate School Drinking Water Access in an Era of Aging Infrastructure: A Mixed Methods Investigation

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica L. Kenney ◽  
James G. Daly ◽  
Rebekka M. Lee ◽  
Rebecca S. Mozaffarian ◽  
Katherine Walsh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Delivery Systems ◽  
Bottled Water ◽  
Water Delivery ◽  
Water Access ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Aging Infrastructure

Ensuring students’ access to safe drinking water at school is essential. However, many schools struggle with aging infrastructure and subsequent water safety problems and have turned to bottled water delivery systems. Little is known about whether such systems are feasible and effective in providing adequate student water access. This study was a mixed-methods investigation among six schools in an urban district in the U.S. with two types of water delivery systems: (1) tap water infrastructure, with updated water fountains and bottle fillers, and (2) bottled water coolers. We measured students’ water consumption and collected qualitative data from students and teachers about their perceptions of school drinking water. Student water consumption was low—between 2.0 (SD: 1.4) ounces per student and 2.4 (SD: 1.1) ounces per student during lunch. Students and teachers reported substantial operational hurdles for relying on bottled water as a school’s primary source of drinking water, including difficulties in stocking, cleaning, and maintaining the units. While students and teachers perceived newer bottle filler units positively, they also reported a distrust of tap water. Bottled water delivery systems may not be effective long-term solutions for providing adequate school drinking water access and robust efforts are needed to restore trust in tap water.

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