Investigating Willingness to Pay to Improve Water Supply Services: Application of Contingent Valuation Method

Abstract

Safe water supply is one of the important Millennium Goals. For development of market water supply services, the willingness of consumers to pay is essential. The consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for piped water supply using the contingent valuation (CV) method with different starting point bids was investigated for the Pavlodar Region, Kazakhstan. The results showed that households with access to groundwater (well or borehole water users) perceived this as of good quality. Consumers without access to groundwater used open-source, standpipe or delivered water for which they had to travel and spend time or to pay. Open source water and standpipe water quality was perceived as bad or satisfactory. More than 90% of the consumers were willing to pay for better water quality and regular water supply. The mean WTP was estimated to be about 1120 in bids and about 1590 KZT per household per month in open-ended question format (150 KZT is ~1 USD as of January 2012). The results can be used to better identify the proper technological choice and the level of service to be provided making rural water projects both sustainable and replicable at a larger scale.

Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation in Rural Kazakhstan

“…In the pilot study, 10 villages were randomly selected for a study on willingness to pay for water supply. The results of the pilot study were reported by Tussupova et al [7]. The rest of the villages, in total 27 rural villages of different size, were investigated in the present survey conducted during July–August 2013.…”

“…One missing but interesting question to borehole water users is if water is connected from the borehole to the home. From the pilot study, it was seen that those who have connected water to the home and have a water boiler at home regardless of income have low or no willingness to connect to the piped tap water [7]. One of the reasons is that usually in rural areas cold water only is given through the pipes and households have to heat it by themselves using water boilers.…”

“…Thus, the SDGs emphasize gender goals, people’s participation, as well as local governance to reach sustainable development. The well-established links between poor sanitation and poor health mean that water supply must be viewed in connection with sanitation, and hygiene promotion as a coherent whole (WASH) [6,7]. …”

Water Related Health Problems in Central Asia—A Review

“…At present the main challenge for Central Asian states public health sectors is in clarifying, coordinating, and streamlining Consequently, all five Central Asian states have experienced the crumbling of the Soviet Union in 1991, the following collapse of the economic system, and the subsequent socioeconomic upheaval [2]. The transition from state planned to market economy has meant changing patterns for basic services such as water supply and sanitation [3]. At present Central Asia is home to a population of about 66 million (Kazakhstan 17.0 million, Kyrgyzstan 5.7 million, Tajikistan 8.0 million, Turkmenistan 5.2 million, and Uzbekistan 30.0 million) [4].…”

“…Use of untreated wastewater to meet water shortage; 2 Lack of infrastructure, especially related to wastewater treatment and discharge; 3 Lack of health awareness and proper handling of polluted water; and 4…”