Investigating household drinking water treatment preferences in Vietnam using the repertory grid methodology | |
| Author | Hoang Ngoc Tuong Van |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-08-11 |
| Subject(s) | Drinking water--Vietnam Water-supply--Vietnam |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The study was conducted over the period of 3.5 months (from Nov 2007 to Feb 2008) in Thua Thien Hue province, Central Vietnam. A total of 40 middle and low income households comprising 158 persons were recruited into the field study. The households belonged to an urban, peri-urban and rural area. 40 random samples of raw water and treated drinking water were tested, while structured questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews via Repertory Grid Methodology (RGM) were carried out by the investigator. First field survey revealed that boiling was a preferred intervention (85.0%) among four options of water treatment interventions that were practiced at household level. From the results of the laboratory analysis it could be seen that the microbial quality of drinking water produced by four different interventions was in accordance with the WHO standards for drinking water (Nil FC/100 ml). In this present study a classical RGM was specifically adapted for the drinking water management field through random triads of elements that described the drinking water qualities (constructs): “microbial quality”, “taste”, “cost”, “convenience”, etc. The elements (e.g. “boiled rain water”, “boiled tap water”, “boiled well water”, etc) and constructs were found to be specific for Central Vietnam therefore that may be concluded that the RGM adaptation must take into account specifics both in terms of local environment water sources and local respondents’ attitudes to drinking water. The results from the second field survey showed that construct “microbial quality” was given the highest priority (95.0%) for good drinking water quality among total 11 elicited constructs by triading of nine solicited elements. In contrast, in Bangladesh the construct “taste” was ranked the highest (80.0%) out of 9 constructs. From the detailed analyses on significant differences among various focus groups in terms of perceptions of drinking water quality were demonstrated that the construct “microbial quality” (100%) was of the highest importance in urban households groups in comparison to peri-urban and rural households groups, while the construct “chemical quality” (93.3%) was more important for the female group in comparison to the male groups. Constructs “microbial quality” (100%) and “chemical quality” were valued (100%) the most important by the higher education level group in comparison to lower education level group and “microbial quality” (100%), “chemical quality” (90.9%) paid higher consideration to the higher income households in comparison to lower income households. The study showed that out of all drinking water types the preferred water type (element) was “boiled tap water” (75.0%) and the preferred treatment intervention was “boiling” (85.0%). Generally, the Vietnamese informants in this study have demonstrated a much greater uniformity in their attitudes to drinking water and they showed their preferences for quality assured water in terms of origin (e.g. boiled tap water, etc). The Recommendations generated by the study will be used by the WHO-led “Network to promote Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage” of which AIT is an integral part. |
| Year | 2008 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shipin, Oleg V.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh;Vilas Nitivattananon; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Ministry of Education and Training; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2008 |