SWBP: Unsafe Water and Lack of Sanitation

SWBP is Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems,
a 2007 book I'm reading, edited by Bjorn Lomborg,
Ch. 22, pp. 405-422, by Guy Hutton (from Development Solutions International),
Book Report / Commentary and Summary, by me, god :-)

Cough! Yuck..

The Problem
In 2002, it was reported that 1.1B people drink unsafe water (the words used are "lacked access to improved drinking water sources"), and 2.6B people lacked proper sanitation (again, the words used are "lacked access to improved sanitation.")

More than 90% of these live in Asia and Africa.
70% of the 1.1B, and 78% of the 2.6B live in just 11 countries:
(India, China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Afghanistan).

In some regions, the percentage without proper sanitation is "disturbingly high," or as I would rather put it, the potential for improvement is excitingly vast (seriously, when you're cleaning a house, isn't dusting the dirtiest spots the most satisfying? Come on guys, help me out. I'm trying to implement the Secret, here.)

This is an obviously central element of a basic human need, right?
(I don't see why I should have to think about ranking it according to CBA).
Anyway, in recognition of it's importance:
-WS&S (water safety and sanitation) Improvement is MDG (UN Millennium Development Goal) 7. Specifically, to halve by 2015 the % of poor souls without sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation.
-It is, of course, (like everything else), tied up with improvement in other areas and goals like health and nutrition, environmental sustainability, gender equality, primary school attendance, and overall poverty rates.
-The UN has declared 2005-2015 the International Decade for Action: Water for Life.

SOLUTION
The Solution is, well, Universal Access (you don't have to make that an acronym, kay?) Um, the MDG is good, of course, but the overall objective is still not half, but everybody, healthy and happy, with clean water and sanitation.

This means "flush toilets, VIP latrines, and simple pit latrines, with properly treated and disposed of sewage, and adequate water quantity and quality." (I don't know what a VIP latrine is..)

Specifically, there are 4 areas for intervention:
1. Hygiene (hand washing, education)
2. Sanitation (sanitary pit latrine, septic tank, household sewer connection)
3. Water Supply (new water supply or improved distribution, piped household water suppy)
4. Water Quality (treatment at community source, treatment at water plant for household piped water supply, treatment at point of use [chemical, pasteurization, filter, boiling, or solar disinfection techniques], combined with safe storage).

Adequate water quantity prevents water-washed disease transmission, such as scabies and trachoma. Adequate water quality prevents waterborne diseases like diarrhea, dysentary, and typhoid.

The author says that meeting the MDG-7 (WS&S) would cost $83B USD. This is a must do. Humanity would be inhuman not to. I don't know if this means the other half would cost the same, less, or more.

-For those 11 countries in dire need, the BCR's (Benefit-cost ratios) range from 4.4 to 31.6.
-The majority (>75%) of deaths averted would be in the 0-4 age group.
-Some groups would end up paying less than what they already pay for bad water for improved water...due to payments for water vendors, bottled water, purification materials and energy expenses, collection and waiting time, sewage removal.

A more complex economic analysis for policy makers to use would include not only the financial considerations, but the health considerations, and the economy of time saved and household production opportunities. The authors seem to think it's all about plugging in the right data into a computer with an econometric model, it seems, but I think it might be equal part art. Something as important as this deserves some personal time to meditate upon and have simmer.

The author finishes with pointing out that resources, both financial and water itself, are constrained in those 11 countries, which have low gvt. spending and income per capita., weak institutions to oversee water supply expansion, and large populations. Personally, I think all those people want WS&S more than he does, and can be mobilized to improve their lives, so it's very doable. Is the glass half full of clean water?

Certain impacts can be had at low cost: The mobilization of the health sector to improve household water purification at the point of use or in the community, hygiene education in the community, health promotion and latrine building in schools and health centers, and extending micro-credit to households to allow them to invest in water and sanitation improvement.

Also, Improved advocacy could be done by studies, country-level and sub-national, that help convince (obstinately idiotic?) governmental departments, as well as the population, that water and sanitation are worth investing in.


Micro-loan link; kiva.org