scholarly journals Global cost-benefit analysis of water supply and sanitation interventions

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Hutton ◽  
Laurence Haller ◽  
Jamie Bartram
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Global Cost ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
Time Savings ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

The aim of this study was to estimate the economic benefits and costs of a range of interventions to improve access to water supply and sanitation facilities in the developing world. Results are presented for eleven developing country WHO sub-regions as well as at the global level, in United States Dollars (US$) for the year 2000. Five different types of water supply and sanitation improvement were modelled: achieving the water millennium development goal of reducing by half in 2015 those without improved water supply in the year 1990; achieving the combined water supply and sanitation MDG; universal basic access to water supply and sanitation; universal basic access plus water purification at the point-of-use; and regulated piped water supply and sewer connection. Predicted reductions in the incidence of diarrhoeal disease were calculated based on the expected population receiving these interventions. The costs of the interventions included estimations of the full investment and annual running costs. The benefits of the interventions included time savings due to easier access, gain in productive time and reduced health care costs saved due to less illness, and prevented deaths. The results show that all water and sanitation improvements are cost-beneficial in all developing world sub-regions. In developing regions, the return on a US$1 investment was in the range US$5 to US$46, depending on the intervention. For the least developed regions, investing every US$1 to meet the combined water supply and sanitation MDG lead to a return of at least US$5 (AFR-D, AFR-E, SEAR-D) or US$12 (AMR-B; EMR-B; WPR-B). The main contributor to economic benefits was time savings associated with better access to water and sanitation services, contributing at least 80% to overall economic benefits. One-way sensitivity analysis showed that even under pessimistic data assumptions the potential economic benefits outweighed the costs in all developing world regions. Further country case-studies are recommended as a follow up to this global analysis.

Conceptual and Practical Aspects of Water Regulation in Developing Countries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanford V. Berg
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Productive Efficiency ◽  
Water Sector ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

Organizations regulating the water sector have major impacts on public health and the sustainability of supply to households, industry, power generation, agriculture, and the environment. Access to affordable water is a human right, but it is costly to produce, as is wastewater treatment. Capital investments required for water supply and sanitation are substantial, and operating costs are significant as well. That means that there are trade-offs among access, affordability, and cost recovery. Political leaders prioritize goals and implement policy through a number of organizations: government ministries, municipalities, sector regulators, health agencies, and environmental regulators. The economic regulators of the water sector set targets and quality standards for water operators and determine prices that promote the financial sustainability of those operators. Their decisions affect drinking water safety and sanitation. In developing countries with large rural populations, centralized water networks may not be feasible. Sector regulators often oversee how local organizations ensure water supply to citizens and address wastewater transport, treatment, and disposal, including non-networked sanitation systems. Both rural and urban situations present challenges for sector regulators. The theoretical rationale for water-sector regulation address operator monopoly power (restricting output) and transparency, so customers have information regarding service quality and operator efficiency. Externalities (like pollution) are especially problematic in the water sector. In addition, water and sanitation enhance community health and personal dignity: they promote cohesion within a community. Regulatory systems attempt to address those issues. Of course, government intervention can actually be problematic if short-term political objectives dominate public policy or rules are established to benefit politically powerful groups. In such situations, the fair and efficient provision of water and sanitation services is not given priority. Note that the governance of economic regulators (their organizational design, values or principles, functions, and processes) creates incentives (and disincentives) for operators to improve performance. Related ministries that provide oversight of the environment, health and safety, urban and housing issues, and water resource management also influence the long-term sustainability of the water sector and associated health impacts. Ministries formulate public policy for those areas under their jurisdiction and monitor its implementation by designated authorities. Ideally, water-sector regulators are somewhat insulated from day-to-day political pressures and have the expertise (and authority) to implement public policy and address emerging sector issues. Many health issues related to water are caused or aggravated by lack of clean water supply or lack of effective sanitation. These problems can be attributed to lack of access or to lack of quality supplied if there is access. The economic regulation of utilities has an effect on public health through the setting of quality standards for water supply and sanitation, the incentives provided for productive efficiency (encouraging least-cost provision of quality services), setting tariffs to provide cash flows to fund supply and network expansion, and providing incentives and monitoring so that investments translate into system expansion and better quality service. Thus, although water-sector regulators tend not to focus directly on health outcomes, their regulatory decisions determine access to safe water and sanitation.

Securing 2020 vision for 2030: climate change and ensuring resilience in water and sanitation services

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Howard ◽  
Katrina Charles ◽  
Kathy Pond ◽  
Anca Brookshaw ◽  
Rifat Hossain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Sanitation Services ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
Sanitation Systems ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

Drinking-water supply and sanitation services are essential for human health, but their technologies and management systems are potentially vulnerable to climate change. An assessment was made of the resilience of water supply and sanitation systems against forecast climate changes by 2020 and 2030. The results showed very few technologies are resilient to climate change and the sustainability of the current progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may be significantly undermined. Management approaches are more important than technology in building resilience for water supply, but the reverse is true for sanitation. Whilst climate change represents a significant threat to sustainable drinking-water and sanitation services, through no-regrets actions and using opportunities to increase service quality, climate change may be a driver for improvements that have been insufficiently delivered to date.

Improving access to water supply and sanitation in urban India: microfinance for water and sanitation infrastructure development

2008 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 887-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna Davis ◽  
Gary White ◽  
Said Damodaron ◽  
Rich Thorsten
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Sanitation Services ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
Water And Sanitation Infrastructure ◽  
Sanitation Infrastructure ◽  
The City ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

This article summarises initial findings of a study to explore the potential of providing micro-financing for low-income households wishing to invest in improved water supply and sanitation services. Through in-depth interviews with more than 800 households in the city of Hyderabad in India, we conclude that, even if provided with market (not concessional) rates of financing, a substantial proportion of poor households would invest in water and sewer network connections.

scholarly journals A first generation African community grappling with urbanisation: the views of Platfontein’s San on water and sanitation service delivery

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann Tempelhoff
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Northern Cape ◽  
African Community ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

Since their relocation in 2004 to Platfontein near Kimberley in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province, members of the !Xun and Khwe San, originally from the northern parts of Namibia and southern Angola, became a first generation African community grappling with urbanisation in a rapidly modernising South Africa. The Platfontein area, a number of farms with a settlement housing complex accommodating about 7 000 people, is currently an emergent urban area in which residents have the opportunity to lead urban lives. However, the local water supply and sanitation infrastructure is in a bad state. People reside in early RDP houses, which since being handed over by the Department of Housing have not all been provided with proper water, sanitation and electricity.In the article attention is given to the perceptions of the San community of Platfontein on their prospects for the future under current conditions. The focus is on local water and sanitation service delivery provided by the Sol Plaatje Local Municipality. In many respects their views reflect the complex cultural adjustments necessary to live in an urban environment. Water supply and sanitation are services taken for granted in a modern urban setting. The fact that the San community is subject to considerable frustration about poor service delivery in these important services is a root cause of their discontent with the realities of life in an urban environment that does not live up to their expectations.

Equity in access to water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia: an analysis of EDHS data (2000–2011)

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 320-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selamawit Seyoum ◽  
Jay P. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
Equity In Access ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

Significant efforts to improve water supply and sanitation (WS&S) in Ethiopia have been made over the past decade, yet it is unclear how progress has affected different segments of the population. This study used data from Ethiopia's Demographic and Health Survey (2000, 2005, and 2011) to assess trends in: 1) access to improved water supplies; 2) use of improved sanitation; 3) use of untreated surface water as a primary source for drinking water; 4) open defecation; and 5) water transport times greater than 30 minutes. Trends were assessed by urban/rural residence, administrative region and education. The study found increases in access to improved water supplies and reductions in open defecation; however, no progress was observed in the use of improved sanitation. Rural households that reported drinking untreated surface water went from nearly one-third in 2000 to one-fifth in 2011. No improvements were found regarding the reported time spent collecting water. Inequities in WS&S remained high across the country, highlighting the need to focus on these differences and target resources towards sub-populations that lack this fundamental necessity.

scholarly journals The impact of access to water supply and sanitation on the prevalence of active trachoma in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. e0009644
Author(s):  
Thomas Ayalew Abebe ◽  
Gudina Terefe Tucho
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Active Trachoma ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

Background Trachoma is a worldwide infectious disease causing blindness. Trachoma continued as a public health problem in Ethiopia due to a lack of sanitation and inadequate prevention strategies. This study aimed to identify the impact of water supply and sanitation intervention on preventing active trachoma among children. Methods Systematic literature searches were performed from 4 international databases. The search involved articles published from January 1995 up to March 2019. The Cochran Q and I2 statistical tests were used to check heterogeneity among the studies. A random-effect meta-analysis was employed to determine the pooled estimates with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Data analysis was performed using the CMA V.3 and RevMan 5 software program, and the result of the systematic review was reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Findings Out of 211 studies screened for the analysis, only 29 studies were finally included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The result revealed factors that are significantly associated with increased odds of active trachoma. Accordingly, households with no access to toilet facilities (odds ratio [OR]: 2.04, 95% CI: 1.75–2.38), no access to improved water (OR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.27–1.96), and do not practice regular face washing for children (OR: 4.19, 95% CI: 3.02–5.81) have shown increased odds of active trachoma. Besides, the results show a higher prevalence of active trachoma among children who did not wash their faces with soap and frequently. Conclusions The study found strong evidence that lack of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) was associated with increased prevalence of active trachoma among children. Therefore, a comprehensive and partnership-oriented program is needed to tackle the problem, but further study will be required to strengthen its implementation.

Strategies to close water supply and demand gap

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 103-110
Author(s):  
Gustaf Olsson
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Sanitation Services ◽  
European Water ◽  
The World ◽  
And Control ◽  
Water Supply And Sanitation

The growing water and sanitation crisis in the world calls for enormous efforts from water professionals as well as economic and political leaders. The climate change contributes to the acuteness of the problem, with dryer areas in some parts of the world and severe floods and rains in other parts. The European Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WSSTP) is an industry driven organisation aiming to strengthen the potential for technological innovation and the competitiveness of the European Water Industry but is also a response to global challenges and regional demands to ensure safe, secure and sustainable water and sanitation services for the benefit of industry, the society and the environment. The supply of electrical energy has to be carefully considered as a pre-requisite for water supply and sanitation. The production of biogas can be significantly increased by using instrumentation and control. The use of monitoring and control has wide consequences for safe and reliable water supply and sanitation.

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