Risky responsibilities for rural drinking water institutions: The case of unregulated self-supply in Bangladesh

Fischer, Alex; Hope, Rob; Manandhar, Achut; Hoque, Sonia Ferdous; Foster, Tim; Hakim, Adnan; Islam, Md. Sirajul; Bradley, David J.

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102152

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…A second policy implication is to recognize the recent dominant role of private investment in private tubewells in meeting the MDG of improved access, and the potential to explore synergies with public expenditure (Fischer et al., 2020). While shallow tubewells are not part of public infrastructure investments because of known water quality concerns, household investments reveal an unmet demand for more convenient (closer) infrastructure to serve multiple household needs (cooking, washing, bathing, and as well as drinking).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Rural Drinking Water Supply Infrastructure to Account for Spatial Variations in Groundwater Quality and Household Welfare in Coastal Bangladesh

Roman

Hoque

Ford

et al. 2021

Water Resources Research

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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as articulated in Target 6.1, aims to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, using the proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services as the associated indicator (UN, 2015). Despite the progress in increasing "access" to technologically improved sources as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), as of 2017, over 2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water and 785 million do not even have "basic" services (WHO/UNICEF, 2019). Progress to improve water security is most challenging in contexts where financial and institutional resources are limited and where water resources are threatened by chronic (e.g., groundwater contamination) and acute (e.g., floods and cyclones) threats. Bangladesh typifies these chronic and idiosyncratic water security risks, particularly in the coastal region, where around 20 million people live precarious lives with uncertain futures (M. A. Hoque et al., 2016;Shammi et al., 2017).The financial resources that are available for investment of water supplies are inevitably scarce, so governments and development organizations face difficult prioritization problems. Should they adopt a utilitarian approach to maximize for the greater good for the greatest number of people or a Rawlsian social justice approach which prioritizes the "most in need" (Sen, 1974)? The question is complicated by the interaction between public works to provide water supplies and private actors who are willing and able to pay to satisfy their own water needs. In this case, actions by the state may actually crowd out private investments. These competing policy choices are not irreconcilable but present a sequencing and prioritization problem compounded by identification and measurement issues. Without information on the welfare or infrastructure distribution, information asymmetries can lead to perverse outcomes in the spatial distribution of infrastructure, as has been documented in arsenic affected areas in Bangladesh (van Geen et al., 2016). New

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Rural Drinking Water Supply Infrastructure to Account for Spatial Variations in Groundwater Quality and Household Welfare in Coastal Bangladesh

Roman

Hoque

Ford

et al. 2021

Water Resources Research

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“…Bangladesh stands as a global example for its remarkable success in adoption of tubewells, fuelled by the growth of local supply chains that enabled households to invest in low-cost shallow tubewells. With 1.74 million public tubewells installed by the government's Department for Health and Engineering (DPHE) and an estimated eight times more private tubewells (MLGRDC, 2011), the coverage ranges from 6.7 people per tubewell in areas with shallow freshwater aquifers to 12.4 people per tubewell in coastal areas exposed to high groundwater salinity (Fischer et al, 2020). Though self-supply is not formally recognized as a service delivery model, Fischer et al (2020) estimates that nationally rural households contributed over US$170 million in private tubewell installations in 2018 with an additional US$83 million being spent on operation and maintenance per year.…”

Section: Research Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet only 22% of the 5213 functional tubewells are used for drinking, and of these 33% have salinity below the recommended threshold of 1500 µS/cm, indicating household preferences for water sources on-premises even if they are not used for drinking. The growing demand for higher service levels is in line with the country's economic growth, with vibrant local markets supplying shallow tubewells at low costs (Fischer et al, 2020).…”

Section: Comparative Growth In Public and Private Capital Investmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-spatial and seasonal dynamics of small, private water service providers in Khulna district, Bangladesh

Hoque

2021

International Journal of Water Resources Development

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Small water service providers operating in informal markets across the Global South address critical gaps in public investments in the rural water sector. This study analyses the growth and operations of private desalination plants and distributing vendors in Khulna, Bangladesh, within the broader landscape of uncoordinated investments by government, donors and households. Household water choices and payment behaviour vary spatially and seasonally, with observable wealth differences in self-supply investments in rainwater tanks and tubewells. Monitoring and regulating informal private providers can improve sectoral coordination, increase efficiency of service delivery and unlock commercial finances against the backdrop of declining aid-based financing.

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“…Despite the support of key development players as international donors, implementing agencies and governments [17,18] recent scrutiny of the long-term functionality of rural water supply underlines weaknesses of the CBM model [19][20][21] and calls for improvements in the financial model. Similarly, a number of studies assessing rural water financing challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa suggest that a high proportion of communities struggle to establish and maintain a system for collecting user fees and raise the required funds for sustainable O&M cost recovery [22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Willingness to Pay for Improved Operations and Maintenance Services of Gravity-Fed Water Schemes in Idjwi Island (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Jimenez-Redal

Landín

Landeta

et al. 2021

Water

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Developing understanding of the economic value that communities ascribe to improved operations and maintenance (O&M) services has emerged as a key factor in achieving financial sustainability for rural water systems. The present study elicits household willingness to pay (WTP) for improved O&M services in eight gravity-fed water schemes in Idjwi Island (Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC). A contingent valuation survey was implemented through an open-ended format questionnaire to 1105 heads of household and a log-linear regression model was employed to assess the factors influencing higher values. Findings show an average willingness to pay of 327 Congolese Francs (CDF) per month and 36 CDF per bucket. Results also indicate a significant WTP differential among studied schemes. The analysis of the conditioning factors reveals that the level of excludability, the participation in management meetings and the time employed in fetching water from an improved source are contingent with their WTP. The findings of this study are important for development agents trying to establish acceptable, affordable and practicable tariffs that help finance reliable rural water systems in Idjwi.

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Risky responsibilities for rural drinking water institutions: The case of unregulated self-supply in Bangladesh

Cited by 20 publications

References 54 publications

Optimizing Rural Drinking Water Supply Infrastructure to Account for Spatial Variations in Groundwater Quality and Household Welfare in Coastal Bangladesh

Optimizing Rural Drinking Water Supply Infrastructure to Account for Spatial Variations in Groundwater Quality and Household Welfare in Coastal Bangladesh

Socio-spatial and seasonal dynamics of small, private water service providers in Khulna district, Bangladesh

Willingness to Pay for Improved Operations and Maintenance Services of Gravity-Fed Water Schemes in Idjwi Island (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

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