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

作者：Shrestha Khadga Bahadur^*; Thapa Bhesh Raj; Aihara Yoko; Shrestha Sadhana; Bhattarai Arun P; Bista Niranjan; Kazama Futaba; Shindo Junko

来源：Water, 2018, 10(5): 607.

DOI：10.3390/w10050607

• drinking water
• household survey
• water treatment cost
• water treatment practice
• socioeconomic effect

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.

• 出版日期2018-5