Abstract
Safe water supply is one of the important Millennium Goals. For development of market water supply services, the willingness of consumers to pay is essential. The consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for piped water supply using the contingent valuation (CV) method with different starting point bids was investigated for the Pavlodar Region, Kazakhstan. The results showed that households with access to groundwater (well or borehole water users) perceived this as of good quality. Consumers without access to groundwater used open-source, standpipe or delivered water for which they had to travel and spend time or to pay. Open source water and standpipe water quality was perceived as bad or satisfactory. More than 90% of the consumers were willing to pay for better water quality and regular water supply. The mean WTP was estimated to be about 1120 in bids and about 1590 KZT per household per month in open-ended question format (150 KZT is ~1 USD as of January 2012). The results can be used to better identify the proper technological choice and the level of service to be provided making rural water projects both sustainable and replicable at a larger scale.
Highlights
Kazakhstan is a former Soviet Republic that is transitioning from state planned to market economy
During the transition from a state planned to a market economy, existing water supply systems have deteriorated due to lack of maintenance [1,2]
If water is provided for your village with public standpipes on each street and unlimited potable water supply at any time of the day, how much would your household be willing to pay each month?
Summary
Kazakhstan is a former Soviet Republic that is transitioning from state planned to market economy. This transition is changing patterns of basic services such as water and sanitation. The Soviet Union sought to tackle the desperate living conditions that the major part of the population suffered from in the early twentieth century by expanding access to essential services such as piped water. When the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, many people, especially in rural areas that historically have been disadvantaged, still had limited access to drinking water. During the transition from a state planned to a market economy, existing water supply systems have deteriorated due to lack of maintenance [1,2]
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