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Abstractobjectives The objective of this study was to investigate the quality of on-plot piped water and rainwater at the point of consumption in an area with rapidly expanding coverage of 'improved' water sources.methods Cross-sectional study of 914 peri-urban households in Kandal Province, Cambodia, between July-August 2011. We collected data from all households on water management, drinking water quality and factors potentially related to post-collection water contamination. Drinking water samples were taken directly from a subsample of household taps (n = 143), stored tap water (n = 124), other stored water (n = 92) and treated stored water (n = 79) for basic water quality analysis for Escherichia coli and other parameters.

This paper studies household demand for improved water quality in peri-urban Cambodia, with particular attention paid to the influence of water quality on willingness to pay (WTP). Utilizing data from 915 household surveys, we analyze responses to a contingent valuation scenario using multivariate logit regression techniques that account for subjective perceptions of water quality.We estimate a mean household WTP for improved water quality of US$3 (roughly 1.2% of mean income) per month for households in this sample. We also find that the majority of households believe that their in-house water after storage, handling, and treatment is safe to drink. Furthermore, beliefs about existing levels of water quality have a significant impact on WTP for improved water quality. However, while perceptions of quality (and thus WTP) are highly related to taste preferences, actual water quality is relatively uncorrelated with water quality perceptions. These findings suggest that interventions aiming to increase the adoption of water treatment should account for underlying perceptions of water quality.

This CDP has the potential to attain humanitarian drinking water quality objectives when not operating under extreme conditions; consistently achieving E. coli log10 reductions between 4·5 and 5·2 resulting in treated water with E. coli concentrations mostly below the <1 MPN per 100 ml target level.