title: Value of arsenic-free drinking water to rural households in Bangladesh.
abstract: Using contingent valuation survey data for about 2700 households in rural Bangladesh, and applying a multinomial logit model, the paper estimates the value of arsenic-free drinking water to the rural people. The estimates indicate that the rural people in arsenic-affected areas of Bangladesh place a low value on arsenic-free drinking water. It is about 10-14 percent of the amount they are willing to pay for piped water and only about 0.2-0.3 percent of the average household income. The implication of the result is that robust but costly arsenic reduction technologies such as activated alumina technology may find little social acceptance, unless heavily subsidized.
authors.affiliation: Water and Sanitation Program, South Asia.
authors.forename: Junaid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Bishwanath
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goldar
authors.forename: Smita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Misra
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020261:Arsenic Poisoning; D001459:Bangladesh; D016015:Logistic Models; D012423:Rural Health; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water; D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D001151:Arsenic