Sidrat Asim Pakistan Urban Forum Willingness to Pay Study for Improved Water Supply Services in Karachi
Problem Identification Clean drinking water remains the greatest perceived need of the people of Karachi Only 4 hours of continuous water supply Flat Rate Tariff based on floor areas results in high consumption Low Tariff does not cover Operation and Maintenance Cost Public forced to buy water from private water tankers Bottled water usage for drinking purpose is high
Water Tariff Source: KWSB
Water Supply Summary in South Asia Source: Water in Asian Cities, ADB report
Objectives examines the current water usage habits of the people in the city using the Averting Expenditure Approach
Theoretical Framework Valuation Stated Preference Contingent Valuation Method Conjoint Analysis Revealed Preference Averting Expenditure Approach Travel Cost Method Hedonic Pricing Method Cost of Illness Methods
Averting Expenditure Approach Strengths: based on observed behaviors and market data relatively simple to do Weaknesses: underestimation of the true WTP
Averting Behavior Water Tankers Bottled Water Suction Pumps Boring Wells Water Purification
Description of the Study Site
Karachi
Water Supply residential water connections in Karachi 58% households connected Water demand estimated at 1080 million gallons daily (MGD) Water Supply is limited to 650 MGD K-IV Project may augment water supply to 1300 MGD in 5 years Water Tanker mafia siphons off over 40% water supply
Gulshan-e- Iqbal One of eighteen towns in Karachi Main residential area of the city Population of over a million people Educational hub of the city with a concentration of higher education institutions within its vicinity
Methodology Primary Survey
Survey Site
Survey Face to face interviews Representative of all income groups and ethnicities in Karachi Conducted on public holidays in last week of December households visited by eleven surveyors Population: Connected Households Sample: 400 households
Results Descriptive Statistics
Importance of Water 37% of the respondents rated water as the most important public utility
Ratings of various public goods Water ranks second most important public utility after health
Income and Expenses Households spend the least amount on piped water
Income
Source of Water used for Washing 99% use piped water as primary source of water for washing 56% use boring wells as a secondary source for water 28% use water tankers as a secondary source for water
Source of Water used for Drinking 60% people use piped water as a primary source 22% use mineral water a 4% use water from water tankers. 36% use mineral water as a secondary source of drinking water
Current Water Satisfaction Surveyed households receive an average of 27 hours of water supply in a week Users were only moderately satisfied with current water supply
Coping Behavior 80% of the households run motors 10% have a well installed electric motors run for 3 hours/day Onetime cost of having a well installed was Rs on average 23% use water tankers 50% drink mineral water
Coping Cost
Coping costs by Income Coping costs are higher for higher income households
Water Purification Methods 60% of the households use some form of water purification method
Water Purification by Source Piped water users need to use water purification methods more than those who use other sources of water for drinking
Empirical Results
Household Income and Household size affect Coping costs positively. (1)(2) LABELSCoping Cost Water Purification Income Class885.0***-0.266*** (3.257)(-3.784) Household Size121.6** (2.184) Constant *** (4.579) Observations R-squared0.102
Discussion
Limitations Study only focuses on the demand side Study does not deal with the institutional weakness of the KWSB or issues of bill collection and financial management Study is restricted to Blocks 4 and 7 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal town in Karachi
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