Accounting for water quality in monitoring access to safe drinking-water as part of the Millennium Development Goals: lessons from five countries

Cameroon has been fully engaged with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) since their inception in 2000. This paper examines the situation of access to potable water and sanitation in Cameroon within the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), establishes whether Cameroon is on the track of meeting the MDGs in these domains and proposes actions to be taken to bring it closer to these objectives. Based on analyzed data obtained from national surveys, government ministries, national statistical offices, bibliographic research, reports and interviews, it argues that Cameroon will not reach the water and sanitation MGDs. While Cameroon is not yet on track to meet the targets of the MDGs for water and sanitation, it has made notable progress since 1990, much more needs to be done to improve the situation, especially in rural areas. In 2006, 70% of the population had access to safe drinking water and the coverage in urban centres is 88%, significantly better than the 47% in rural areas. However, rapid urbanization has rendered existing infrastructure inadequate with periurban dwellers also lacking access to safe drinking water. Sanitation coverage is also poor. In urban areas only 58% of the population has access to improved sanitation facilities, and the rate in rural areas is 42%. Women and girls shoulder the largest burden in collecting water, 15% of urban and 18% rural populations use improved drinking water sources over 30 minutes away. Cameroon faces the following challenges in reaching the water and sanitation MDGs: poor management and development of the resources, coupled with inadequate political will and commitment for the long term; rapid urbanization; urban and rural poverty and regulation and legislative lapses. The authors propose that: bridging the gap between national water policies and water services; recognizing the role played by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the attainment of MDGs; developing a Council Water Resource Management Policy and Strategy (CWARMPS); organizing an institutional framework for the water and sanitation sector as well as completion and implementation of an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) plan, would bring Cameroon closer to the water and sanitation MDGs.

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WATER SUPPLY VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS

Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management ◽

10.1142/s1464333207002676 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 09 (01) ◽

pp. 121-135 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

WIJANTO HADIPURO

Keyword(s):

Drinking Water ◽

Water Supply ◽

Vulnerability Assessment ◽

Millennium Development Goals ◽

Sustainable Livelihoods ◽

Policy Intervention ◽

Safe Drinking Water ◽

Human Needs ◽

Development Goals ◽

Basic Human Needs

All the United Nations' members have already committed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce by half the proportion of 1.1 billion people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015. The problem is that with all the limiting capacities, which half should be prioritized and what kind of policy intervention can be used to achieve the goal. This paper proposes a methodology on water supply vulnerability assessment, specifically for meeting basic human needs. Based on the impacts to the five assets owned by a certain household and the causes of the lack of access, the policy intervention can be tailored made as to what problems the community faces. Hopefully the method can be used by multilateral donors or agencies and all levels of government to focus on a certain community or area that should be prioritized to meet the MDG target.

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An exploration of multilevel modeling for estimating access to drinking-water and sanitation

Journal of Water and Health ◽

10.2166/wh.2012.107 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 64-77 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Jennyfer Wolf ◽

Sophie Bonjour ◽

Annette Prüss-Ustün

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Multilevel Modeling ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Safe Drinking Water ◽

Water And Sanitation ◽

Regulatory Frameworks ◽

Improved Sanitation ◽

Development Goals ◽

Urban And Rural Areas

Monitoring progress towards the targets for access to safe drinking-water and sanitation under the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) requires reliable estimates and indicators. We analyzed trends and reviewed current indicators used for those targets. We developed continuous time series for 1990 to 2015 for access to improved drinking-water sources and improved sanitation facilities by country using multilevel modeling (MLM). We show that MLM is a reliable and transparent tool with many advantages over alternative approaches to estimate access to facilities. Using current indicators, the MDG target for water would be met, but the target for sanitation missed considerably. The number of people without access to such services is still increasing in certain regions. Striking differences persist between urban and rural areas. Consideration of water quality and different classification of shared sanitation facilities would, however, alter estimates considerably. To achieve improved monitoring we propose: (1) considering the use of MLM as an alternative for estimating access to safe drinking-water and sanitation; (2) completing regular assessments of water quality and supporting the development of national regulatory frameworks as part of capacity development; (3) evaluating health impacts of shared sanitation; (4) using a more equitable presentation of countries' performances in providing improved services.

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Comparison of pollutant discharge per capita (PDC) and its relationships with economic development: An indicator for ambient water quality improvement as well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) sanitation indicator

Ecological Indicators ◽

10.1016/j.ecolind.2008.11.006 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 971-981 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Yoshiaki Tsuzuki

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Economic Development ◽

Quality Improvement ◽

Millennium Development Goals ◽

Ambient Water ◽

Water Quality Improvement ◽

Development Goals ◽

Per Capita ◽

Pollutant Discharge

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Public Demand for Improved Urban Water Supply Services in Multan

IBT Journal of Business Studies ◽

10.46745/ilma.jbs.2020.16.01.12 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 171-192

Author(s):

Junaid Alam Memon ◽

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Service Delivery ◽

Water Supply ◽

Quality Parameters ◽

Safe Drinking Water ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Number Of Children ◽

Awareness Campaigns ◽

Water Charges

Governments in developing countries face financial constraints to ensure supply of clean drinking water. They may benefit from increasing water charges for those who are be willing to pay little extra in lieu of their demand for improvement in water quality and service. To check the plausibility of this proposal, we investigated drinking water supply and quality, and welloff consumers demand for improved service delivery in Shah-Rukun-e-alam and Mumtazabad towns in Multan city of Pakistan. Qualitative data obtained through a questionnaire survey was analyzed using descriptive and regression techniques. Qualitative information obtained through semi structured interviews was helpful in designing survey questionnaire and to elaborate quantitative results. Results reveal that the respondents accord high importance to the provision of safe drinking water than to other daily household needs. The demand for improvement in water supply parameters exceeds the demand for improvements in water quality parameters, with the reliable supply being the most demanded improvement. Majority realize the government’s budget constraints in improving service delivery. Most respondents would pay PKR 100 in addition to what they are paying now. Their willingness to pay (WTP) this amount correlates with their awareness on water and health nexus, and depends household income, number of children under 14 years age and awareness of actual water quality tested through laboratory. Besides recommending raise of water charges by PKR 100 per month per household in both towns, the service quality improvement may consider interventions such as mobile water testing laboratory and awareness campaigns motivate citizens to pay for safe drinking water.

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Off-flavor as the consumer's measure of drinking water safety

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1995.0386 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 31 (11) ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Michael J. McGuire

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Water Utilities ◽

Regulatory Environment ◽

Safe Drinking Water ◽

Water Safety ◽

Safe Water ◽

Drinking Water Safety ◽

Off Flavors ◽

Health Related

If consumers detect an off-flavor in their drinking water, they are likely to believe that it probably is not safe. Water utilities will be defeating their best efforts to provide safe drinking water if they only meet health-related regulations and do not provide water that is free of off-flavor problems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current U.S. regulatory environment and discuss how these regulations can adversely impact the control of off-flavors in drinking water. Utilities should adopt a water quality goal that allows them to not only meet the minimums of the regulations, but also meet the customer's highest standards - water that is free of off-flavors.

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Characterizing a Newly Designed Steel-Wool-Based Household Filter for Safe Drinking Water Provision: Hydraulic Conductivity and Efficiency for Pathogen Removal

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr7120966 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (12) ◽

pp. 966 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Raoul Tepong-Tsindé ◽

Arnaud Igor Ndé-Tchoupé ◽

Chicgoua Noubactep ◽

Achille Nassi ◽

Hans Ruppert

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Hydraulic Conductivity ◽

Ph Value ◽

Iron Concentration ◽

Progressive Increase ◽

Total Coliform ◽

Drinking Water Quality ◽

Safe Drinking Water ◽

Steel Wool

This study characterizes the decrease of the hydraulic conductivity (permeability loss) of a metallic iron-based household water filter (Fe0 filter) for a duration of 12 months. A commercial steel wool (SW) is used as Fe0 source. The Fe0 unit containing 300 g of SW was sandwiched between two conventional biological sand filters (BSFs). The working solution was slightly turbid natural well water polluted with pathogens (total coliform = 1950 UFC mL−1) and contaminated with nitrate ([NO3−] = 24.0 mg L−1). The system was monitored twice per month for pH value, removal of nitrate, coliforms, and turbidity, the iron concentration, as well as the permeability loss. Results revealed a quantitative removal of coliform (>99%), nitrate (>99%) and turbidity (>96%). The whole column effluent depicted drinking water quality. The permeability loss after one year of operation was about 40%, and the filter was still producing 200 L of drinking water per day at a flow velocity of 12.5 L h−1. A progressive increase of the effluent pH value was also recorded from about 5.0 (influent) to 8.4 at the end of the experiment. The effluent iron concentration was constantly lower than 0.2 mg L−1, which is within the drinking-water quality standards. This study presents an affordable design that can be one-to-one translated into the real world to accelerate the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals for safe drinking water.

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