A matter of good taste: investigating preferences for in-house water treatment in peri-urban communities in Cambodia

Abstract

Low demand for safe water may partly result from a perceived distaste towards or the inconvenience of treatment methods. This paper analyzes preferences for water quality improvements in peri-urban Phnom Penh. The authors first analyze data from a discrete choice experiment in which respondents selected their preferred alternative from generic options varying in cost, taste acceptability, effectiveness against diarrhea and quantity of water treated. The choice patterns suggest that demand for water treatment is highly dependent on taste acceptability. The authors also use double-blinded taste tests to show that respondents are sensitive to one common taste in treated drinking water, that stemming from chlorine disinfection. While many compounds (natural and anthropogenic) may contribute to taste problems in drinking water, the lack of alignment between household preferences for taste and water safety may play a role in the low use of household water treatment methods in many settings.

What are Households Willing to Pay for Improved Water Access? Results from a Meta-Analysis

“…For example, the underlying samples used to create BASELINE3 (representing some access to a private water connection by Observations 171 a majority of the sample) range from about 55 percent for a sample of households in Shoshong, Botswana as documented by Kadisa (2013), to full connectivity to a private water system for one in Matiguás, Nicaragua as documented by Vásquez et al (2012). 5 Moreover, these variables cannot fully capture differences in baseline quality-such as water reliability, pressure, color, or taste-that may also be important determinants of the benefits that accrue to households from enhanced access (Jeuland et al, 2015;Yang et al, 2006 …”

Multiple Household Water Sources and Their Use in Remote Communities With Evidence From Pacific Island Countries

“…Nearly all of these articles concern Sub‐Saharan Africa. Despite the paucity of published studies and their relatively narrow geographic focus, there is growing recognition of the importance of multiple household water sources and a growing body of literature acknowledges the practice around the world and/or calls for further research (Ahmed & Hossain, ; Brown et al, ; Dos Santos et al, ; Evans et al, ; Foster & Hope, ; Henry, ; Jeuland et al, ; MacDonald et al, ; Overbo et al, ; Shaheed et al, ; Thompson et al, ; Wang et al, ). This dispersed literature lacks consistent vocabulary and methodologies; published studies can be difficult to find; and most articles cite few or no prior studies.…”

Valuing water supply infrastructure improvements using life satisfaction data as a complement to contingent valuation

“…has a disgusting taste of chemicals, are more willing to pay. To this respect, Jeuland et al (2015) found a positive WTP for treated water, thus emphasizing the importance that individuals give to those water attributes, as taste or smell, that are experienced directly in comparison with other ones that should be inferred such as health benefits.…”