Bottled water serves an increasingly large percentage of urban poor populations in lower-income countries, yet receives little attention within international development research and policy. This study investigates the impact of packaged drinking water (refill water) on affordability and equity of drinking water access by the urban poor under SDG 6.1, comparing refill water cost and consumption across socioeconomic quintiles drawn from two sub-districts of Jakarta, Indonesia. Analysis of a customer survey (n = 80) and in-depth interviews with 12 small-scale refill water providers reveals the significance of water quality, convenience, and reliability of water in defining affordable water access. Lower-income households perceive refill water to be the most affordable, safe drinking water source available to them, despite representing the second highest per unit cost source. Piped water is considered more expensive despite its low per unit volume cost, because of total costs associated with guaranteeing its reliability and quality. We suggest that the combined costs of securing domestic and drinking water for poorer households need to be considered for future approaches targeting the provision of inclusive water access under SDG 6.1 in Indonesia. Packaged water needs to be taken into account in the strategies designed to increase access, and measurements of affordability and equity of access.
Jakarta is a city with unpredictable yet annual water shortages, both during the dry and wet season, which disproportionately affect the urban poor. One possible solution is to redevelop the existing water supply system which is now working in one of the largest slum area in Penjaringan, North Jakarta. This system is equipped with a large meter, the Master Meter, to record the communal water consumption and individual meters to record household consumptions. The Community Based Organization uses, operates, and maintains the system based on agreement with water users. Improvement of the Master Meter is achieved by harvesting uncollected rain water during the wet season with its high rainfall intensity, modifying the water storage system and improving the influent water quality. This paper aims to provide a preventive strategy in response to climate change and infrastructural failures based on a case study of community-based water supply project in Penjaringan, Jakarta
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.