Hidden Cost of Drinking Water Treatment and Its Relation with Socioeconomic Status in Nepalese Urban Context

Abstract

Kathmandu Valley faces water scarcity from decades of the added burden of water storage and treatment, which imposed cost. We estimated the method-specific cost of in-house drinking water treatment (9 L/day used) based on equipment price and life, daily operation time, fuel used, and consumables replacement frequency, which were Nepalese Rupees (NRs) 23, 57, 392, 586 and 799 for chemicals, ceramic filter, boiling, Euro-Guard and reverse osmosis-ultraviolet (RO-UV) water purification, respectively. The monthly average water treatment cost was estimated based on these estimates and treatment methods used in households, obtained from a questionnaire survey of 1500 households, and its socioeconomic relationship in a Nepalese urban context was investigated. Of the households, 75% practiced at least one treatment method, (average, 1.4). The estimated monthly average cost per household was NRs 380. The fixed effects model showed that the cost was significantly higher in Lalitpur district, and in high school education households. Higher water insecurity perception of respondents was the main determinant of higher treatment cost, which was especially true in Lalitpur district. Water treatment added extra financial burden, especially for the poor households which should be averted or minimized by concerned authorities to provide adequate quantity, quality, and access to drinking water for all.

Measuring Human Water Needs

“…For household assessments, appropriate methods include observational or survey protocols with checklists assessing water treatment usage and frequency. Since water treatment can be costly (in terms of time and resources), the costs of water treatment should be included in assessments of household water insecurity (McLennan, ; Shrestha, Thapa, et al, ; Shrestha, Aihara, et al, ).…”

“…The development of household water insecurity scales and indices, based on data collected from household surveys, has advanced significantly in the last decade (Lester & Rhiney, ; Shrestha, Aihara, et al, ; Shrestha, Thapa, et al, ). A wide range of locally‐grounded scales have emerged to measure household water insecurity following Wutich's first household water insecurity scale in Cochabamba, Bolivia (Hadley & Wutich, ; Wutich, ; Wutich & Ragsdale, ).…”

Socioeconomic Impacts of LCD-Treated Drinking Water Distribution in an Urban Community of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

“…However, some component score coefficients became negative and scores were not considered appropriate as an economic indicator because the sample size was probably too small. We used the component score coefficient derived from the analysis using the 1500-household survey of the Kathmandu Valley conducted in 2016 [21] to calculate the score for households in this study. The p value showed there was not significant difference in economic quintile between the intervention and control sites.…”

“…Aihara et al (2016) found that more than 60% of postnatal mothers in the Kathmandu Valley often or sometimes worried about not having a sufficient amount of water, used less water, and had difficulty maintaining hygiene and sanitation [20]. Shrestha et al (2018) also showed that higher water insecurity perception increased the water treatment practice and water treatment cost in the Kathmandu Valley [21]. The economic losses such as wage loss due to sickness, and costs associated with water treatment for health reasons was found highly associated with water insecurity situation [22].…”

“…Many households practiced in-house water treatment to remove the contaminants and make it safe to drink as a coping strategy. Shrestha et al, (2018) found that 76% practiced water treatment in their households before drinking, of which 53% used more than one method; a ceramic filter (64%) and boiling (60%) were the most commonly used treatment methods [21]. Pattanayak et al (2005) found five types of coping strategies such as collecting, pumping, storing, treating, and purchasing water adopted by the households in the Kathmandu Valley [33].…”