Cost and financial sustainability of a household-based water treatment and storage intervention in Zambia

Abstract

Providing safe water to .1 billion people in need is a major challenge. To address this need, the Safe Water System (SWS) -household water treatment with dilute bleach, safe water storage, and behavior change -has been implemented in .20 countries. To assess the potential sustainability of the SWS, we analyzed costs in Zambia of "Clorin" brand product sold in bottles sufficient for a month of water treatment at a price of $0.09. We analyzed production, marketing, distribution, and overhead costs of Clorin before and after sales reached nationwide scale, and A sensitivity analysis showed that if the bottle price increased to $0.18, the project would be self-sustaining at maximum capacity. This analysis demonstrated that efficiencies in the SWS supply chain can be achieved through social marketing. Even with a subsidy, overall program costs per beneficiary are low.

Effect of Household-Based Drinking Water Chlorination on Diarrhoea among Children under Five in Orissa, India: A Double-Blind Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial

“…Evaluations of other HWTS strategies in programmatic settings have also reported low levels of adoption [30],[40],[41], while research-driven studies have found higher levels of reported use [42]. Further research is needed to better understand how to achieve consistent and sustained adoption of these interventions on a programmatic basis and over the long term.…”

The Costs of Climate Change: A Study of Cholera in Tanzania

“…There exist several reviews and studies of the costs of health intervention programmes which address the prevention of climate-related diarrhea and cholera [20,21,22,23,24]. These studies present measures to reduce vulnerability to current events.…”

Household Water Treatment Practice and Associated Factors in Rural Households of Sodo Zuria District, Southern Ethiopia: Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…15,16 Although tens of millions of people rely on improved community water supplies, water supply authorities may not deliver microbiologically qualified water, so water needs to be treated at the household level. 17,18 In low-income countries, numerous household water treatments (HWT) have been confirmed to significantly improve drinking water quality in field trials. 19 It was reported that there was more than 25% reduction in diarrheal disease among children <2 years of age using flocculent disinfectant compared to untreated water handling methods.…”