scholarly journals Towards A Situated Urban Political Ecology Analysis of Packaged Drinking Water Supply

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Kooy ◽  
Carolin Walter
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Access ◽  
Urban Political Ecology ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Choices

The inclusion of packaged drinking water (PDW) as a potentially improved source of safe drinking water under Goal 6.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) reflects its growing significance in cities where piped water has never been universal or safe for drinking. Using the case of PDW in Jakarta, Indonesia, we call for theorizing the politics of PDW through a situated Urban Political Ecology (UPE) analysis of the wider urban water distributions in which it is inserted. We do so in order to interrogate the unevenness of individual “choices” for securing safe drinking water, and highlight the ambiguity of PDW’s impact on inequalities in access. We first review research on PDW supply to specify how dominant theoretical approaches used for understanding PDW supply through analyses of the individual making “choices” for drinking water are power neutral, and why this matters for achieving equitable water access. We illustrate these points through a case study of PDW consumption by low income residents in Jakarta, and then identify how a situated UPE framework can help attend to the uneven societal relations shaping different socio-material conditions, within which individual “choices” for PDW are made. For Jakarta, connecting choices of the individual to power relations shaping geographies of urban water access and risk explains the rise in PDW consumption by low income residents as a situated response to the uneven exposure of poorer residents to environmental hazards. We conclude with reflections on how this can inform interventions towards more just distributions of safe drinking water.

scholarly journals A Transnational Urban Political Ecology of Water Infrastructures: Global Water Policies and Water Management in Hanoi

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucía Wright-Contreras
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Urban Political Ecology ◽  
Global Networks ◽  
Developmental Issues ◽  
Water Policies ◽  
Global Water

Using the lens of a transnational urban political ecology of water infrastructures in Vietnam, this article contributes to the understanding of the intersections between urbanization patterns, socioecological problems, financial schemes, and the power relations embedded in Hanoi’s urban water supply through politics of scale that aim to ensure safe drinking water. With the analysis of global water policies and their implications in the Southeast-Asian context, the objectives of this work are to (a) reveal the scalar nature of Hanoi’s water infrastructures by situating water management processes in a broader context of developmental issues, and (b) review lessons and prospects of past and future global targets of access to safe drinking water. The evidence of multilevel water governance processes and cross-sectoral challenges of safe water provision emphasizes the need for global networks of cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 6 and contribute to other sectors aiming to “transform our world.”

scholarly journals Design, performance, and demand for a novel in-line chlorine doser to increase safe water access

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie E. Powers ◽  
Cynthia McMurry ◽  
Sarah Gannon ◽  
Adam Drolet ◽  
Jared Oremo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Access ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Technical Performance ◽  
Service Package ◽  
Chlorine Residual ◽  
Service Period ◽  
Sales Pitch

AbstractFinancially sustainable strategies are needed to increase access to safe drinking water in low-income settings. We designed a novel in-line chlorine doser that employs the Venturi principle to automatically add liquid chlorine at the point of water collection (tap outflows). The Venturi does not require electricity or moving parts, and users do not have to change the way they typically collect water. We field-tested the Venturi and assessed its technical performance and sales viability at water kiosks in Kisumu County, Kenya. We offered kiosk owners 6-month service packages to lease or lease-to-own the device; 27% of kiosks given a sales pitch committed to a service package. All but one kiosk paid in full during the 6-month service period and more than two-thirds purchased the device with payments totaling >$250 USD per kiosk. Kiosk customers could choose to purchase chlorinated or unchlorinated water from separate taps; 66% reported buying chlorinated water. Kiosk taps fitted with the Venturi had detectable free chlorine residual 97.6% of the time. The technical performance of the Venturi and effective demand from kiosks indicate high potential for the Venturi to increase safe water access in low-income communities.

scholarly journals Fe0/H2O Filtration Systems for Decentralized Safe Drinking Water: Where to from Here?

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Nanseu-Njiki ◽  
Willis Gwenzi ◽  
Martin Pengou ◽  
Mohammad Rahman ◽  
Chicgoua Noubactep
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Iron Corrosion ◽  
Small Communities

Inadequate access to safe drinking water is one of the most pervasive problems currently afflicting the developing world. Scientists and engineers are called to present affordable but efficient solutions, particularly applicable to small communities. Filtration systems based on metallic iron (Fe0) are discussed in the literature as one such viable solution, whether as a stand-alone system or as a complement to slow sand filters (SSFs). Fe0 filters can also be improved by incorporating biochar to form Fe0-biochar filtration systems with potentially higher contaminant removal efficiencies than those based on Fe0 or biochar alone. These three low-cost and chemical-free systems (Fe0, biochar, SSFs) have the potential to provide universal access to safe drinking water. However, a well-structured systematic research is needed to design robust and efficient water treatment systems based on these affordable filter materials. This communication highlights the technology being developed to use Fe0-based systems for decentralized safe drinking water provision. Future research directions for the design of the next generation Fe0-based systems are highlighted. It is shown that Fe0 enhances the efficiency of SSFs, while biochar has the potential to alleviate the loss of porosity and uncertainties arising from the non-linear kinetics of iron corrosion. Fe0-based systems are an affordable and applicable technology for small communities in low-income countries, which could contribute to attaining self-reliance in clean water supply and universal public health.

Urban water supply in India: status, reform options and possible lessons

Water Policy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
David McKenzie ◽  
Isha Ray
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Water Sector ◽  
Metropolitan Regions ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Large numbers of households in cities around the developing world do not have access to one of the most basic of human needs–a safe and reliable supply of drinking water. This paper uses the experience of India as a lens through which to view the problems of access to water in urban areas and the various options available for reform. Using two sets of data from the National Family Health Survey, as well as published and unpublished secondary sources, the paper presents the status of access to drinking water in urban India, the performance of India's urban water sector compared to other Asian metropolitan regions and the reform efforts that are under way in several Indian cities. A review of these ongoing reforms illustrates some of the political economy challenges involved in reforming the water sector. Based on this analysis, we draw out directions for more effective research, data collection and policy reform. While each country faces unique challenges and opportunities, the scope and range of the Indian experience provides insights and caveats for many low-income nations.

scholarly journals Framework conditions to design sustainable business models for decentralised water treatment technologies in Viet Nam for international technology providers

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Fritz ◽  
Claudia Hohmann ◽  
Felix Tettenborn
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Treatment ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Simultaneous Increase ◽  
Viet Nam ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Treatment Technologies ◽  
Framework Conditions

Abstract The expansion of water-intensive industrial activities and the impacts of climate change are jeopardising the sufficiency of safe drinking water in several Southeast Asian countries. One is Viet Nam, where geogenic arsenic contamination further limits the availability of freshwater resources with a simultaneous increase in water demand. Innovative and sustainable water treatment technologies are required to meet these challenges. Equally, we assume that the provision of safe drinking water requires tailored business models (BMs). In this study, we focus on the key stakeholders and framework conditions to design tailored BMs providing safe drinking water to the low-income and middle-income population in Viet Nam. We consider decentralised technologies to be suitable due to their lower investment costs for implementation and the avoidance of strong path dependencies. We therefore conducted a literature review and interviews with international experts in the domain of decentralised water treatment technologies. Our results show that relevant aspects include a lack of financial resources, specific characteristics associated with Vietnamese culture, e.g. the importance of relationships and trust in the business domain, lack of education and vocational training, market saturation suggesting co-operation with existing water suppliers, lack of suitable partners, and deficiencies in the institutional environment.

Advancing integrity in urban water and sanitation: WIGO report 2021

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Webb
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Sanitation Services ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
The Media ◽  
Global Population

As the proportion of the global population living in urban areas increases, major challenges in providing safe drinking water and sanitation services need to be overcome, particularly in marginalised communities and informal settlements where services are already deficient. Strategies to provide water and sanitation are often undermined by corruption and integrity failures in the management of public resources, ‘petty corruption’ at the interface between individuals and institutions, and issues of inequitable and discriminatory planning and pricing. In the Water Integrity Global Outlook (WIGO 2021), WIN outlines successful strategies, tools and processes to reduce corruption and improve integrity by governments, utilities, the private sector, regulatory bodies, the media, NGOs and ultimately citizens, to drive improvements in the provision of reliable water and sanitation services.

scholarly journals On the Distributional Implications of Safe Drinking Water Standards

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis C. Cory ◽  
Lester D. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Relative Price ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Household Spending ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Public Water Systems

The provision of safe drinking water provides a dramatic example of the inherent complexity involved in incorporating environmental justice (EJ) considerations into the implementation and enforcement of new environmental standards. To promote substantive EJ, implementation policy must be concerned with thenetrisk reduction of new and revised regulations. The regulatory concern is that higher water bills for low-income customers of small public water systems may result in less disposable income for other health-related goods and services. In the net, this trade-off may be welfare decreasing, not increasing. Advocates of Health–Health Analysis have argued that the reduction in health-related spending creates a problem for traditional benefit-cost analysis since the long-run health implications of this reduction are not considered. The results of this investigation tend to support this contention. An evaluation of the internal structure of consumption expenditures reveals that low-expenditure households can be expected to react to an increase in the relative price of housing-related goods and services due to a water-rate hike by reducing both housing and health-related expenditures. That is, the representative low-expenditure household re-establishes equilibrium by not only decreasing housing-related spending, but also by decreasing spending on health-related expenditures in a modest but significant way. These results reflect the fact that expenditures on housing are a major proportion of overall household spending, and that accommodating drinking water surcharges exacerbates both health and food security concerns for low-expenditures households.

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