Influence of Service Levels and COVID-19 on Water Supply Inequalities of Community-Managed Service Providers in Nepal

Abstract

In Nepal, there are three types of water service providers; two types of government-managed service providers covering urban and municipal areas, and community-managed service providers called Water Users and Sanitation Associations (WUSAs). This study aims to assess the current water supply service levels and water supply inequalities of WUSAs in terms of water consumption, supply hours, and customer satisfaction. Among the three types of water service providers, WUSAs offered the best performance in terms of their low non-revenue water (NRW) rates and production costs, high bill collection rates, and long supply hours. During the COVID-19 lockdown, water consumption increased, but bill payment notably decreased, possibly due to restricted movement and hesitation by customers to make payments. The multiple-year water consumption variations illustrated the uneven water consumption behavior of customers. Despite the variation in water supply hours, Lorenz curves, Gini coefficients (G), and water consumption analysis depicted low inequalities (G ≈ 0.20–0.28) and adequate water consumption among WUSAs even in 2019–2020. In the three WUSAs, more than 90%, 74%, and 38% of customers consumed water above the basic, medium, and high levels, respectively. Thus, maintaining high service levels of WUSAs is instrumental in achieving Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nepal.

The pandemic readiness assessment of building design and engineering service-related legislation in Kazakhstan and the EU

“…Thus, a home has become much more than before: during the pandemic, it became a workplace, a study room, a leisure space and a sports facility; therefore, requirements for building comfort increased for teleworkers and remote learners as the indoor environment becomes more important in terms of affecting one's health, well-being and satisfaction from remote work and study (Awada et al, 2022;Fukumura et al, 2021;Pang et al, 2021;Salamone et al, 2021;Tleuken et al, 2022a, b). Residential buildings started experiencing more pressure: people started using building engineering services (water and energy) more frequently, and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector increased (Abu-Bakar et al, 2021;Kalbusch et al, 2020;Navaratnam et al, 2022;Shrestha et al, 2021;Tleuken et al, 2021a, b). This, in turn, creates a concern regarding the reliability of water and energy serviceswhether the pipes are ready for the increased flows or the energy stations can provide a larger amount of energyfor people locked in their residences for the purpose of social distancing.…”

Household Water and Energy Consumption Changes during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdowns: Cases of the Kazakhstani Cities of Almaty, Shymkent, and Atyrau

“…COVID-19, which started in 2019, resulted in a series of unexpected challenges, including health [1][2][3][4][5], social [6][7][8][9], environmental [10][11][12][13][14] issues which humanity continues to face as of 2021 and must overcome to ensure a sustainable and optimistic future. As an emergency and management response, global lockdowns in cities worldwide have aimed to reduce the propagation of the virus [15].…”

“…The effect of the pandemic on water consumption has been studied to an extent by researchers around the globe [6,11,15,[32][33][34]. COVID-19 raises a question of the sufficiency of the regular water supplies in cities which is directly related to sanitation and public health, especially in regions with water shortages before the pandemic [6,32].…”

“…A study conducted in Bangladesh shows that tap water was used extensively for hand washing during pandemic quarantines, reaching 13-times more compared with pre-pandemic tap water use [39]. Water consumption in Nepal during the pandemic increased; however, the payment for water decreased [11], highlighting the need to implement a proper policy to regulate water consumption. Behavioral change during lockdowns also resulted in a change in the consumptive water footprint of European thermal power plants, 16% of which is related to decreased electricity demand [40].…”

Impact of COVID-19 on monthly water consumption on a tropical tourism island: case study of Phuket (Thailand)

“…They found 14.3% higher residential water consumption per day with higher morning and evening demand peaks. Shrestha et al (2021) reported an increase in residential water consumption and a decrease in commercial consumption during the nationwide lockdown in Nepal during March-April 2020. Abu-Bakar et al (2021) analysed data from 11,528 households over 20 weeks from January 2020 in the southern and eastern regions of England and found that the average household consumption was 284 litres per household per day (l/h/d) before the COVID-19 lockdown and increased to 411 l/h/d in week four in May (46% above pre-lockdown average).…”