Equity impacts of informal private water markets: case of Kathmandu Valley

Abstract

South Asia is a hotspot for populations and economies adversely impacted by poor water security. This is evident in the case of Nepal where it has been estimated that 20% of households have no access to a domestic water source and two-thirds of the urban households live with inadequate water supply. Therefore, many depend on private solutions, such as private wells and purchasing water from informal water markets, to meet household water needs. Within this context, this paper examines whether private water vendors provide equitable access to both poor and wealthy households, whether they practice discriminatory pricing and whether poor households face a greater financial burden in meeting their household water needs. The analysis uses primary data collected from a 1,500-household survey conducted in 2014 and uses regression analyses to derive the results. The results reveal patterns of inequity in the private water market, but seemingly not purely due to an inherent bias against poorer households. Regardless, the market does not serve the poor adequately and given the lack of alternatives that poor households have, it points to an urgent need for the government to step in to counterbalance the deficiencies of the market.

Examining the Economics of Affordability Through Water Diaries in Coastal Bangladesh

“…Hutton and Andrés 2018). These findings resonate with the wider literature across Asia and Africa, where unreliable or absent public water provision cause certain households to pay high prices for small quantities of "packaged water" or bulk delivery through tanker trucks while others resort to easily accessible and free surface water sources (Price et al 2019;Kelly et al 2018;Raina et al 2018). Moreover, these costs only reflect the direct recurrent financial costs and do not account for the opportunity costs of time spent, health risks and other aversion behaviors like treating water at home.…”

“…In Bangladesh, arsenic contamination of shallow aquifers and elevated levels of salinity across varying depths pose severe scarcity for freshwater without major investments in alternative technologies such as small piped schemes with water treatments, reverse osmosis or managed aquifer recharge (Islam et al 2017;Sultana et al 2014). In absence of such investments, informal vendor markets emerge, selling bottled water from distant sources at high prices (Raina et al 2018;Srinivasan et al 2010;Kjellén 2000;Whittington et al 1989).…”

Low water access as a gendered physiological stressor: Blood pressure evidence from Nepal

“…As per a study of workload in subsistence‐based villages in Western Nepal, for example, girls aged 6‐17 years did double the physical work of boys, hauling all the water for the house and animals (Yamanaka & Ashworth, ). But low water access affects urban areas too, like in and around Kathmandu where median daily per person water use falls below UN mandated basic per person requirements of 50 L daily (Raina, ). Molden, Khanal, & Pradhan (: no page number given) provide one picture of the pain of urban water fetching for women like Uma from Patan, just south of the capital city.…”

Dynamics of Financing, Governance and Socioeconomic Benefits of Melamchi Water Supply Project in Nepal: Lessons Learnt

“…As a consequence of the rapid increase in the valley's population in the last two decades, and low level of public investment in water supply provision and system maintenance, less than 20 percent of the population gets regular supply of piped drinking water (Raina et al, 2018). To overcome the shortage, the long-term plan is to divert water from the Melamchi River outside the valley and deliver it to Kathmandu via a 27.5 km long tunnel.…”