Many private households spend considerable amounts of time accessing water, for instance by walking to and queuing at public access points, or by filling storage vessels at taps with low flow rates. This time has an opportunity cost, which can be substantial and may impact which water services and quantities of water households demand. In a novel form of diary study, we gathered detailed water consumption and time use data from 50 households in five informal settlements of the Indian metropolis Pune, accompanied by a household survey and in-depth interviews. With the data, we characterize water collection behaviors and assign monetary values to water procurement time. We statistically analyze the effects of time cost on consumed quantities in several two-level mixed-effect models. Household members in our sample spend up to several hours each day filling storage vessels, even if a private connection to the piped network is available. Average time cost amounted to the equivalent of 4.23–13.81% of monthly household cash income. Our analyses indicate that procurement time reduces quantitative water demand in a significant way. The households incurring the highest per-unit time cost consumed water quantities below minimum levels recommended for human health. This substantiates that time costs can impede access to water and are a relevant issue for water management and policy.
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Heterogeneity, Household Co-Production, and Risks of Water Services — Water Demand of Private Households with Multiple Water Sources
Private households around the world use and combine multiple water sources, including diverse forms of market services and self-supply. The reasons for this have so far not been explained in a coherent framework, nor have the implications for water management and policy been sufficiently analyzed. Here, we examine how heterogeneity of water services, household co-production, and risks of provision influence household demand patterns. We apply an economic household production model that incorporates two water quality levels for different household activities to exemplary situations. We derive a number of explanations why households use and combine water services that expand the current state of research. Relevant findings include: (i) The diverse characteristics of available water services result in different time requirements for water procurement and varying degrees of suitability for household activities. (ii) Differences in the value placed on time can induce households to demand heterogeneous water services because these enable them to find a balance between using time and money to access water. (iii) Certain water services may be demanded because they function as insurance against both uncertain and unreliable supply. Our insights are relevant for water policy, in particular for developing and managing demand-responsive systems, and for the implementation and monitoring of normative goals for access to water.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1829999
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10436972
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Water Economics and Policy
- Volume:
- 08
- Issue:
- 01
- ISSN:
- 2382-624X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1142/S2382624X22500060
