Study Water and Sanitation ighting Arsenic: Listening to Rural Communities Program Willingness to Pay for An international partnership to help the poor gain sustained Arsenic-.ree, Safe Drinking access to improved water supply and sanitation services Water in Bangladesh Junaid Ahmad (WSP-SA) Bangladesh Rural B.N. Goldar (Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi) Advancement Smita Misra (World Bank) Committee M. Jakariya (BRAC, Dhaka) Willingness to for Pay Arsenic-.ree, Safe in Drinking BangladeshWater THE WORLD BANK and Water Sanitation Program Picture Credits: WSP-SA/Guy Stubbs The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on the maps inside do not imply on the part of the World Bank any judgment on the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. 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Water and Sanitation Program *ighting Arsenic: Listening to Rural Communities An international Willingness to Pay for partnership to help the poor gain Arsenic-ree, Safe Drinking sustained access to improved water supply and sanitation services Water in Bangladesh Prepared by Water and Sanitation Junaid Ahmad (Water and Sanitation ProgramSouth Asia) ProgramSouth Asia B.N. Goldar (Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi) Smita Misra (World Bank) August 2003 M. Jakariya (BRAC, Dhaka) WILLINGNESS TO PAY OR ARSENIC-REE, SAE DRINKING WATER IN BANGLADESH Contents oreword .......................................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... viii Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................... ix Key findings ............................................................................................................................ xi 1. Household perceptions regarding the impact of arsenic exposure on health ...................................... xi 2. Extent of arsenic contamination of tubewells in the areas surveyed ................................................... xi 3. Shift to alternate safe sources of water by households encountering an arsenic problem ..................... xi 4. Household preferences among arsenic mitigation technologies ....................................................... xi 5. Respondents current experience with arsenic mitigation technologies .............................................. xii 6. Perceived advantages of piped water systems ............................................................................... xii 7. Households willingness to pay for piped water systems ................................................................. xii 8. Preference between arsenic mitigation technologies and piped water systems ................................... xv 9. Demand for piped water in arsenic-affected areas with access to deep tubewells .............................. xv The road ahead ..................................................................................................................... xvi *urther research ................................................................................................................... xvii A final word ......................................................................................................................... xviii Abbreviations................................................................................................................................... xix 1. Background .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Health effects of exposure to arsenic-contaminated drinking water .................................................. 2 1.2 Impact of arsenic exposure in Bangladesh ................................................................................... 3 1.3 The extent of arsenic contamination in Bangladesh ...................................................................... 3 1.4 Quest for solutions ................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Objectives of the study .............................................................................................................. 5 2. Alternate Safe Water Options ....................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Arsenic mitigation technologies .................................................................................................. 7 2.1.1 Removing arsenic from existing contaminated sources of water ........................................... 7 ii CONTENTS 2.1.2 Source substitution or developing and delivering alternative arsenic-free water sources .......... 8 2.2 The situation in Bangladesh ....................................................................................................... 9 2.2.1 Arsenic removal technologies ......................................................................................... 9 2.2.2 Source substitution ....................................................................................................... 10 2.3 Assessment of arsenic mitigation technologies: A review of two evaluation studies ........................... 11 2.4 Is piped water supply a viable option? .......................................................................................13 3. Study Design and Sampling ramework ................................................................................... 14 3.1 Use of contingent valuation methodology to assess preferences and estimate willingness to pay .................................................................................................................... 15 3.2 Study design ........................................................................................................................... 17 3.2.1 8ocus group discussions, pre-testing the questionnaire, and training enumerators ............... 18 3.2.2 Design of the questionnaire ........................................................................................... 18 3.2.2.1 Household survey ........................................................................................... 18 3.2.2.2 Village survey ................................................................................................. 21 3.2.3 Administering the survey ................................................................................................ 21 3.2.4 Data entry ................................................................................................................... 21 3.2.5 Analysis of data ........................................................................................................... 21 3.3 Key features of the contingent valuation survey fielded in Bangladesh ............................................ 21 3.3.1 Survey method ............................................................................................................. 21 3.3.2 Elicitation method......................................................................................................... 22 3.3.3 Payment method ........................................................................................................... 22 3.3.4 Control of biases and validation of the contingent valuation method .................................. 22 3.3.5 Validation of the contingent valuation method ................................................................. 23 4. Socio-economic Profile of the Respondents Covered in the Household Survey ........................ 24 4.1 Key characteristics of the respondents ........................................................................................ 25 4.1.1 Gender ....................................................................................................................... 25 4.1.2 Age ............................................................................................................................ 25 4.1.3 Level of education ........................................................................................................ 25 4.1.4 Occupation ................................................................................................................. 26 4.1.5 Relationship with the household head ............................................................................. 26 4.1.6 Gender of the household head ...................................................................................... 27 4.1.7 Occupation of the household head ...............................................................................