Why Do People Remain Attached to Unsafe Drinking Water Options? Quantitative Evidence from Southwestern Bangladesh (original) (raw)
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Water
Rather than committing exclusively to one drinking water option, households in Bangladesh often use a portfolio of sources that, in varying ways, to varying extents satisfy one or more out of several preferences they hold with regard to their drinking water. What happens if a new option is added to that mix? In communities of Bangladesh’ Southwestern coastal region where a new option (managed aquifer recharge, or MAR) was recently introduced, we observe variation in the extent to which this source contributes to satisfying households’ drinking water needs. Using multiple linear regression (n = 636 households), we found that perceived risk, costs, taste, self-efficacy, and form and intensity of competition with alternative drinking water options matter significantly.
Acceptance and Use of Eight Arsenic-Safe Drinking Water Options in Bangladesh
Arsenic contamination of drinking water is a serious public health threat. In Bangladesh, eight major safe water options provide an alternative to contaminated shallow tubewells: piped water supply, deep tubewells, pond sand filters, community arsenic-removal, household arsenic removal, dug wells, well-sharing, and rainwater harvesting. However, it is uncertain how well these options are accepted and used by the at-risk population. Based on the RANAS model (risk, attitudes, norms, ability, and self-regulation) this study aimed to identify the acceptance and use of available safe water options. Cross-sectional face-to-face interviews were used to survey 1,268 households in Bangladesh in November 2009 (n = 872), and December 2010 (n = 396). The questionnaire assessed water consumption, acceptance factors from the RANAS model, and socioeconomic factors. Although all respondents had access to at least one arsenic-safe drinking water option, only 62.1% of participants were currently using these alternatives. The most regularly used options were household arsenic removal filters (92.9%) and piped water supply (85.6%). However, the former result may be positively biased due to high refusal rates of household filter owners. The least used option was household rainwater harvesting (36.6%). Those who reported not using an arsenic-safe source differed in terms of numerous acceptance factors from those who reported using arsenic-safe sources: non-users were characterized by greater vulnerability; showed less preference for the taste and temperature of alternative sources; found collecting safe water quite time-consuming; had lower levels of social norms, self-efficacy, and coping planning; and demonstrated lower levels of commitment to collecting safe water. Acceptance was particularly high for piped water supplies and deep tubewells, whereas dug wells and well-sharing were the least accepted sources. Intervention strategies were derived from the results in order to increase the acceptance and use of each arsenic-safe water option.
Naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater in Bangladesh poses a well-known public health threat. The aim of the present study is to investigate fostering and hindering factors of people's use of deep tubewells that provide arsenic-safe drinking water, derived from the Protection Motivation Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior. Structured personal interviews were conducted with 222 households in rural Sreenagar, Bangladesh. Multiple linear regressions were carried out to identify the most influential personal, social, and situational behavior determinants. Data revealed that social factors explained greater variance in the consumption of drinking water from deep tubewells than did situational and personal factors. In an overall regression, social factors played the biggest role. In particular, social norms seem to strongly influence deep tubewell use. But also self-efficacy and the perceived taste of shallow tubewell water proved influential. Concurrently considering other important factors, such as the most mentioned response cost (i.e., time needed to collect deep tubewell water), we propose a socially viable procedure for installing deep tubewells for the extended consumption of arsenic-safe drinking water by the Bangladeshi population.
Exposure and Health, 2018
This study, conducted in Tala Upazila (with > 0.3 million people) situated in a coastal district of Bangladesh, endeavors to identify the water quality situation and to assess people's willingness to pay for safe drinking water; with a view to develop policies and programs to improve people's access to safe and affordable drinking water in the coastal area. A total of 4500 households were surveyed for getting relevant information on willingness to pay of households, while water quality test was performed at 649 high dependent drinking water sources (basically tubewells) for identifying arsenic, salinity and iron concentration. Arsenic test results revealed that overall 36.5% of tested drinking water sources; 63% shallow tubewells and 14% deep tubewells were unsafe due to the presence of high levels of arsenic beyond Bangladesh standard. Electrical conductivity, which is a measure of salinity was very high in about 94% of the tested water sources; while 61% of tested sources had iron concentration higher than the Bangladesh standard. It is evident from the study that people are aware of these problems and on an average, 91% of the households were willing to pay for improving access to safe drinking water. Regardless of economic class, most of the households (75%) were willing to pay BDT 20.0 (0.25 USD) per week for 20 L safe water per day, which is equivalent to 2-6% of their respective monthly income to access safe drinking water. Logistic regression model identified monthly household income, tubewell ownership, distance of drinking water source, etc., as some determinants of households' willingness to pay for safe drinking water. Encouraging peoples who are currently drinking arsenic-contaminated tubewell water to shift their sources to nearby arsenic free tubewells may be a cost-effective solution to this problem. Engaging community-based WatSan committee (a local committee comprising the user communities for supervising water and sanitation related activities) including local government representatives to design an affordable water tariff structure and generating sufficient revenue to cover the cost of water services in the community would be an effective and sustainable solution to improve access of safe and affordable drinking water in the coastal area of Bangladesh.
Willingness to pay for improved safe drinking water in a coastal urban area in Bangladesh
2021
Discontentment with a piped supply system of drinking water has become a significant concern in Bangladesh's urban areas in recent years, necessitating the improvement of different aspects of the system in question. Therefore, by conducting a discrete choice experiment on 115 households out of a systematically selected 161 households, this study aims to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for an improved safe drinking water supply by considering the trade-offs made by urban dwellers for the proposed improvements to an existing water supply system in the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) area of Bangladesh. The primary results show that the total WTP of households is estimated at BDT 243.6 (≈US$ 2.87) per month, implying that respondents are ready to pay for improvements to the water supply attributes of water quality, regularity of supply, water pressure in taps, and filtering. A revenue stream for an improved water supply system is also being developed, suggesting that investment...
Assessing Willingness to Pay for Safe Drinking Water in Tala Union of Satkhiradistrict, Bangladesh
2016
The people of the coastal regioo of Bangladesh are facing severe difficulties in accessing safe drinking water mainly during the dry period. Tala upazila of Satkhira district is ooe of the most affected areas because of widespread arsenic contamination in shallow aquifer, salinity in ground and surface water, difficulties in extractiog saline free aquifer due to hard rocks/stooes and excessive iron. There is an acute shortage of safe drinking water in the villages of Tala mainly due to low accessibility and inadequate quality of drinking water. This paper has been extracted from the pilot study cooducted in Tala union in 2015 to identify local people's preference for drinking water sources, their preferred option for buying and willingoess to pay for access to safe drinking water as well as to find out the opportunity of existiog water selling business. Water pricing, as one of the most iroportant element to develop water selling business model, requires the information regardin...
Water Policy, 2015
Contamination of shallow tube well drinking water by naturally occurring arsenic is a severe societal and human health challenge in Bangladesh. Multiple technological interventions seeking to ameliorate the problem face hurdles in securing social acceptance, i.e. the willingness of users to receive and use a technology. While most papers focus on expert understanding of social acceptability, this paper analyzes how users themselves understand the factors shaping the social acceptability of safe drinking water options in rural Bangladesh. We then deploy such understanding to comparatively assess which factors users see as most important in securing social acceptance for three safe drinking water options in rural Bangladesh: the arsenic removal household (Sono) filter; the deep tube well; and an improved dug well. We draw on focus groups and semi-structured interviews with technology users in six villages across three districts to analyze how users assess the social acceptability of s...
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2019
Many government water supply schemes fail in terms of public acceptance, primarily due to lack of public awareness, transparency on water tariff policy, and angst of water privatization. The present work attempts to identify failure factors taking into account on existing household water quality and importance of awareness programs through a case study of an upcoming government water supply scheme, which is facing stiff public resistance. The study aims to assess public perception on existing groundwater quality and acceptance of a paid water supply scheme over conventionally used free groundwater, through a comparative study on number of household's willingness to procure water, before and after groundwater quality awareness program. A questionnaire survey, groundwater sample collection and laboratory analysis of 1568 (sample size determined statistically) household groundwater samples was conducted. Laboratory analysis revealed that 55%, 12% and 9% of groundwater samples exceeded WHO guidelines for iron, fluoride, and arsenic, respectively. The public perception on groundwater quality found far away from reality, only 3-4% people were aware of contamination and the rationale for public opposition were more of public misconception and/or in erudite nature. Public awareness on groundwater quality and its adverse health effects were found to be the most influencing factors affecting public willingness to procure (WtP) that improved from 58 to 74% after creating awareness. The findings of public WtP were fortified by logistic regression model which uncovered interesting trend of public hesitation and explicitly thrown light upon sensibility of people who disclosed their income during survey.
Nature Environment and Pollution Technology
Using a unique dataset of 524 households from an urban hill town of Darjeeling in India, this study addresses two key issues of (a) determining the drivers of risk perception from water use, and (b) understanding whether water treatment decisions and choice of water sources are jointly made by the households. The results from probit model show that the age of the head, perception of the aesthetic qualities of water (odour and colour), education level of the head, the volume of improved water used, water treatment decision and expenditure on the water are the significant drivers of risk perception. The results of a rare investigation on the likelihood of the joint decision of treating water and choice of water source show that these decisions are indeed jointly made in the study area. Households decision to treat water from an unimproved source and the choice of improved water can be seen as substitutes.
Environment and Development Economics, 2013
A national campaign of well testing through 2003 enabled households in rural Bangladesh to switch, at least for drinking water, from high-arsenic wells to neighboring lower arsenic wells. We study the well-switching dynamics over time by re-interviewing, in 2008, a randomly selected subset of households in the Araihazar region who had been interviewed in 2005. Contrary to concerns that the impact of arsenic information on switching behavior would erode over time, we find that not only was 2003–2005 switching highly persistent but also new switching by 2008 doubled the share of households at unsafe wells who had switched. The passage of time also had a cost: 22 per cent of households did not recall test results by 2008. The loss of arsenic knowledge led to staying at unsafe wells and switching from safe wells. Our results support ongoing well testing for arsenic to reinforce this beneficial information.