title: The effect of water quality testing on household behavior: evidence from an experiment in rural India.
abstract: How does specific information about contamination in a household's drinking water affect water handling behavior? We randomly split a sample of households in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. The treatment group observed a contamination test of the drinking water in their own household storage vessel; while they were waiting for their results, they were also provided with a list of actions that they could take to remedy contamination if they tested positive. The control group received no test or guidance. The drinking water of nearly 90% of tested households showed evidence of contamination by fecal bacteria. They reacted by purchasing more of their water from commercial sources but not by making more time-intensive adjustments. Providing salient evidence of risk increases demand for commercial clean water.
authors: Sanford School of Public Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment, and Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. amar.hamoudi@duke.edu
authors: Amar
authors: A
authors: Hamoudi
authors: Marc
authors: M
authors: Jeuland
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Lombardo
authors: Sumeet
authors: S
authors: Patil
authors: Subhrendu K
authors: SK
authors: Pattanayak
authors: Shailesh
authors: S
authors: Rai
mesh_terms: D005191:Family Characteristics; D007194:India; D012424:Rural Population; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*