title: Water supply services for Africa's urban poor: the role of resale.
abstract: In sub-Saharan Africa only 35% of the urban population has access to a piped water connection on their premises. The majority of households obtain water from public standpipes or from neighbors who are connected to the municipal network. Water resale is often prohibited, however, because of concerns about affordability and risks to public health. Using data collected from 1,377 households in Maputo, Mozambique, we compare the microbiological quality, as well as the time and money costs of water supply from individual house connections, public standpipes, and water obtained from neighbors. Households with their own water connections have better service across virtually all indicators measured, and express greater satisfaction with their service, as compared with those using other water sources. Households purchasing water from their neighbors pay lower time and money costs per liter of water, on average, as compared with those using standpipes. Resale competes favorably with standpipes along a number of service quality dimensions; however, after controlling for water supply characteristics, households purchasing water from neighbors are significantly less likely to be satisfied with their water service as compared with those using standpipes.
authors: Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors: Valentina
authors: V
authors: Zuin
authors: Leonard
authors: L
authors: Ortolano
authors: Manuel
authors: M
authors: Alvarinho
authors: Kory
authors: K
authors: Russel
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Thebo
authors: Odete
authors: O
authors: Muximpua
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Davis
mesh_terms: D003132:Commerce; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D009073:Mozambique; D011203:Poverty; D012498:Sanitary Engineering; D014505:Urban Population; D014881:Water Supply / Q000191:economics*