The Challenge of Improving Water and Sanitation Services in Less Developed Countries

The Challenge of Improving Water and Sanitation Services in Less Developed Countries PDF Author: Dale Whittington
Publisher: Now Publishers Inc
ISBN: 1601982488
Category : Infrastructure (Economics)
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
This paper argues that there are many challenges to designing and implementing water and sanitation interventions that actually deliver economic benefits to the households in developing countries. Perhaps most critical to successful water and sanitation investments is to discover and implement forms of service and payment mechanisms that will render the improvements worthwhile for those who must pay for them. In this paper, we argue that, in many cases, the conventional network technologies of water supply and sanitation will fail this test, and that poor households need alternative, non-network technologies. However, it will not necessarily be the case that specific non-network improved water supply and/or sanitation technologies will always be seen as worthwhile by those who must pay for them. We argue that there is no easy panacea to resolve this situation. For any intervention, the outcome is likely to be context-dependent. An intervention that works well in one locality may fail miserably in another. For any given technology, the outcome will depend on economic and social conditions, including how it is implemented, by whom, and often on the extent to which complementary behavioral, institutional and organizational changes also occur. For this reason, we warn against excessive generalization: one cannot, in our view, say that one intervention yields a rate of return of x% while another yields a return of y%, because the economic returns are likely to vary with local circumstances. More important is to identify the circumstances under which an intervention is more or less likely to succeed. Also for this reason, when we analyze a few selected water and sanitation interventions, we employ a probabilistic rather than a deterministic analysis to emphasize that real world outcomes are likely to vary substantially.

The Challenge of Improving Water and Sanitation Services in Less Developed Countries

The Challenge of Improving Water and Sanitation Services in Less Developed Countries PDF Author: Dale Whittington
Publisher: Now Publishers Inc
ISBN: 1601982488
Category : Infrastructure (Economics)
Languages : en
Pages : 154

Get Book Here

Book Description
This paper argues that there are many challenges to designing and implementing water and sanitation interventions that actually deliver economic benefits to the households in developing countries. Perhaps most critical to successful water and sanitation investments is to discover and implement forms of service and payment mechanisms that will render the improvements worthwhile for those who must pay for them. In this paper, we argue that, in many cases, the conventional network technologies of water supply and sanitation will fail this test, and that poor households need alternative, non-network technologies. However, it will not necessarily be the case that specific non-network improved water supply and/or sanitation technologies will always be seen as worthwhile by those who must pay for them. We argue that there is no easy panacea to resolve this situation. For any intervention, the outcome is likely to be context-dependent. An intervention that works well in one locality may fail miserably in another. For any given technology, the outcome will depend on economic and social conditions, including how it is implemented, by whom, and often on the extent to which complementary behavioral, institutional and organizational changes also occur. For this reason, we warn against excessive generalization: one cannot, in our view, say that one intervention yields a rate of return of x% while another yields a return of y%, because the economic returns are likely to vary with local circumstances. More important is to identify the circumstances under which an intervention is more or less likely to succeed. Also for this reason, when we analyze a few selected water and sanitation interventions, we employ a probabilistic rather than a deterministic analysis to emphasize that real world outcomes are likely to vary substantially.

Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century

Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309476550
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 125

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Book Description
Environmental engineers support the well-being of people and the planet in areas where the two intersect. Over the decades the field has improved countless lives through innovative systems for delivering water, treating waste, and preventing and remediating pollution in air, water, and soil. These achievements are a testament to the multidisciplinary, pragmatic, systems-oriented approach that characterizes environmental engineering. Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges outlines the crucial role for environmental engineers in this period of dramatic growth and change. The report identifies five pressing challenges of the 21st century that environmental engineers are uniquely poised to help advance: sustainably supply food, water, and energy; curb climate change and adapt to its impacts; design a future without pollution and waste; create efficient, healthy, resilient cities; and foster informed decisions and actions.

Managing Water Under Uncertainty and Risk: United Nations World Water Development Report #4 (3 Vols.)

Managing Water Under Uncertainty and Risk: United Nations World Water Development Report #4 (3 Vols.) PDF Author: UNESCO
Publisher: UNESCO
ISBN: 9231042351
Category : Risk assessment
Languages : en
Pages : 913

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Book Description
Released every three years since March 2003, the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR), a flagship UN-Water report published by UNESCO, has become the voice of the United Nations system in terms of the state, use and management of the world's freshwater resources. The report is primarily targeted at national decision-makers and water resource managers, but is also aimed at educating and informing a broader audience, from governments to the private sector and civil society. It underlines the important roles water plays in all social, economic and environmental decisions, highlighting policy implications across various sectors, from local and municipal to regional and international levels. Similarly to the first two editions, this report includes a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of several key challenge areas, such as water for food, energy and human health, and governance challenges such as institutional reform, knowledge and capacity-building, and financing, each produced by individual UN agencies.

Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 7)

Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 7) PDF Author: Charles N. Mock
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464805237
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 553

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Book Description
The substantial burden of death and disability that results from interpersonal violence, road traffic injuries, unintentional injuries, occupational health risks, air pollution, climate change, and inadequate water and sanitation falls disproportionally on low- and middle-income countries. Injury Prevention and Environmental Health addresses the risk factors and presents updated data on the burden, as well as economic analyses of platforms and packages for delivering cost-effective and feasible interventions in these settings. The volume's contributors demonstrate that implementation of a range of prevention strategies-presented in an essential package of interventions and policies-could achieve a convergence in death and disability rates that would avert more than 7.5 million deaths a year.

Routledge Handbook of Water and Health

Routledge Handbook of Water and Health PDF Author: Jamie Bartram
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317436989
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 873

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Book Description
This comprehensive handbook provides an authoritative source of information on global water and health, suitable for interdisciplinary teaching for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. It covers both developing and developed country concerns. It is organized into sections covering: hazards (including disease, chemicals and other contaminants); exposure; interventions; intervention implementation; distal influences; policies and their implementation; investigative tools; and historic cases. It offers 71 analytical and engaging chapters, each representing a session of teaching or graduate seminar. Written by a team of expert authors from around the world, many of whom are actively teaching the subject, the book provides a thorough and balanced overview of current knowledge, issues and relevant debates, integrating information from the environmental, health and social sciences.

City-Wide Sanitation: The Urban Sustainability Challenge

City-Wide Sanitation: The Urban Sustainability Challenge PDF Author: Christoph Lüthi
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889662551
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.

How Much Have Global Problems Cost the World?

How Much Have Global Problems Cost the World? PDF Author: Bjørn Lomborg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107292433
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
There are often blanket claims that the world is facing more problems than ever but there is a lack of empirical data to show where things have deteriorated or in fact improved. In this book, some of the world's leading economists discuss ten problems that have blighted human development, ranging from malnutrition, education, and climate change, to trade barriers and armed conflicts. Costs of the problems are quantified in percent of GDP, giving readers a unique opportunity to understand the development of each problem over the past century and the likely development into the middle of this century, and to compare the size of the challenges. For example: how bad was air pollution in 1900? How has it deteriorated and what about the future? Did climate change cost more than malnutrition in 2010? This pioneering initiative to provide answers to many of these questions will undoubtedly spark debate amongst a wide readership.

Urbanization in the Global South

Urbanization in the Global South PDF Author: Kala S Sridhar
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 100042636X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
This book examines the challenges of urbanization in the global south and the linkages between urbanization, economic development and urban poverty from the perspectives of cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It focuses on various aspects of urbanization ranging from food security and public services like sanitation, water and electricity to the finances of cities and externalities associated with the urbanization process. The volume also highlights the importance of participatory urban governance for cities in India with comparative perspectives from other countries. It further focuses on the urbanization of poverty, livelihood in urban areas, overconsumption and nutrition and ecology. Based on primary data, the chapters in the volume review trends, opportunities, challenges, governance and strategies of several countries at different levels of urbanization, with several case studies from India. This multidisciplinary volume will be of great interest to researchers and students of development studies, sociology, economics and urban planning and policy. It will also be useful for policymakers, think tanks and practitioners in the area of urbanization.

Determining the Economic Value of Water

Determining the Economic Value of Water PDF Author: Robert A. Young
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135040524
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
Water provides benefits as a commodity for agriculture, industry, and households, and as a public good such as fisheries habitat, water quality and recreational use. To aid in cost-benefit analysis under conditions where market determined price signals are usually unavailable, economists have developed a range of alternative valuation methods for measuring economic benefits. This volume provides the most comprehensive exposition to-date of the application of economic valuation methods to proposed water resources investments and policies. It provides a conceptual framework for valuation of both commodity and public good uses of water, addressing non-market valuation techniques appropriate to measuring public benefits - including water quality improvement, recreation, and fish habitat enhancement. The book describes the various measurement methods, illustrates how they are applied in practice, and discusses their strengths, limitations, and appropriate roles. In this second edition, all chapters have been thoroughly updated, and in particular the coverage of water markets and valuation of ecosystem services from water has been expanded. Robert Young, author of the 2005 edition, has been joined for this new edition by John Loomis, who brings additional expertise on ecosystem services and the environmental economics of water for recreational and other public good uses of water.

Treatise on Water Science

Treatise on Water Science PDF Author:
Publisher: Newnes
ISBN: 0444531998
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 2131

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Book Description
Water quality and management are of great significance globally, as the demand for clean, potable water far exceeds the availability. Water science research brings together the natural and applied sciences, engineering, chemistry, law and policy, and economics, and the Treatise on Water Science seeks to unite these areas through contributions from a global team of author-experts. The 4-volume set examines topics in depth, with an emphasis on innovative research and technologies for those working in applied areas. Published in partnership with and endorsed by the International Water Association (IWA), demonstrating the authority of the content Editor-in-Chief Peter Wilderer, a Stockholm Water Prize recipient, has assembled a world-class team of volume editors and contributing authors Topics related to water resource management, water quality and supply, and handling of wastewater are treated in depth