Abstract
Abstract Discontentment with a piped supply system of drinking water has become a significant concern in Bangladesh's urban areas in recent years, necessitating the improvement of different aspects of the system in question. Therefore, by conducting a discrete choice experiment on 115 households out of a systematically selected 161 households, this study aims to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for an improved safe drinking water supply by considering the trade-offs made by urban dwellers for the proposed improvements to an existing water supply system in the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) area of Bangladesh. The primary results show that the total WTP of households is estimated at BDT 243.6 (≈US$ 2.87) per month, implying that respondents are ready to pay for improvements to the water supply attributes of water quality, regularity of supply, water pressure in taps, and filtering. A revenue stream for an improved water supply system is also being developed, suggesting that investment in improving the system would be a ‘no-regret’ decision and economically sustainable.
Highlights
785 million people do not have access to safe drinking water, while nearly two billion others can only access a drinking water source contaminated with faeces (WHO, 2019)
This study presents the estimation of willingness to pay (WTP) for pure drinking water supply in a coastal urban area in Bangladesh
The results show that the probability of households who participated in the choice experiment (CE) being willing to pay for an improved safe drinking water supply system is 87%
Summary
785 million people do not have access to safe drinking water, while nearly two billion others can only access a drinking water source contaminated with faeces (WHO, 2019) This scenario is acute in the urban areas of developing countries due to a higher degree of population density, in-migration, and economic activities (Buhaug & Urdal, 2013). A key hurdle to extending and providing a piped water supply is the cost to the consumer (Kayaga et al, 2018). Given this context, almost 1.8 million people die every year in developing countries from water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera due to drinking unsafe water (WHO, 2015). Developing countries are struggling to ensure a consistent supply of safe drinking water, which would reduce mortality and infectious disease rates
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