An analysis of household affordability and willingness to pay for improved water supply in two towns of Lao PDR | |
| Author | Douangchanh Lopaying |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.UE-02-04 |
| Subject(s) | Water-supply--Management--Laos Water-supply--Prices--Laos |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Urban water supply provisions are still largely following the traditional State-owned Utility Model, which tends to be ineffective and unsustainable model particularly in developing countries as it is in Lao PDR. Most of these provisions are not constructed on the basis of consultation with the community concerned, by assessing their affordability and willingness to pay. This is evident, in the water supply system of the selected areas (Champhone and Laongam towns) for this study, which were over-designed in the year 2001, resulting in high connection fee excluding the poor. Utility was unable to set a water tariff rate that is consistent with people's willingness to pay. With this in view, this study investigated and analyzed the affordability and willingness to pay for improved water supply in those towns. The results reveal that the affordability to pay for connection fee, which was measured by the sum of money spent for water containers and installation cost for making their own water source(s), is about 51.7% in Champhone and 70.2% in Laongam of the household monthly income. The affordability to pay for monthly water charge, measured by the average money value of working time for collection water and market price of water at the built source(s) and indoor water operation cost, is 2.3% in Champhone and 4.8 % in Laongam of that income. The willingness to pay, measured by the amount of money that households said they are prepared to pay for improving their water supply, varies from household to household and from town to town by household characteristics such as: income, saving, gender, location of house and the respondents' characteristics (age, educational background, attitude toward government policy on water supply). It was also determined by contingent valuation method, which shows that it is 38.0% in Champhone and 75.7% in Laongam (for connection fee) and 1.5% in Champhone and 2.4% in Laongam (for water monthly charge) of the household monthly income. Overall, the willingness to pay for monthly water charge is less than affordability to pay and it is also less than the amount that generally assumed (3 - 5% of the income). The study's findings suggest an awareness campaign program is necessary to raise the willingness to pay to meet the affordability level, which can be denoted as the maximum level of water demand. Water supply should only be provided when there is clear demonstrable evidence that the users desire the service and they are willing to pay for the cost of the system. Water tariff should start at the willingness to pay levels and not exceed the affordability levels. |
| Year | 2003 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Amin, A. T. M. Nurul |
| Examination Committee(s) | Perera, L. A. S. Ranjith ;Sajor, Edsel E. |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2003 |