학술논문

Consumers’ perception of piped water supply and their willingness to pay for improved water supply: evidence from an Eastern Indian state
Document Type
article
Source
Water Supply, Vol 24, Iss 4, Pp 1335-1351 (2024)
Subject
consumers’ perceptions
sustainability
urban water utilities
water quality and quantity
water tariff
willingness to pay
Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
TD201-500
River, lake, and water-supply engineering (General)
TC401-506
Language
English
ISSN
1606-9749
1607-0798
Abstract
The objectives of the study are to analyse the perception of consumers on piped water supply, the consumers’ willingness to pay for improved water supply, and the factors that affect it. The sample unit is the consumer household of the public health divisions. The sample size is 181. A multistage random sampling procedure was adopted to choose the sample household. Descriptive statistics and structural equation models are used to analyse the data. This study found that consumer satisfaction is influenced by water supply quantity, pressure, timing, and visual aspects. The main factors causing interruptions include pipeline breakage, cyclone impact, summer water depletion, construction work, motor damage, and reservoir cleaning. Households are not well-informed about advance payment, its benefits, and the proper procedure for obtaining a receipt. Household income, education, satisfaction with water quality, the period of the service association, supply water price, and sufficiency of water during summer directly affect consumers’ willingness to pay. Discontent with appearance and taste affects quality dissatisfaction and indirectly willingness to pay. HIGHLIGHTS 83.7% of households stated that they were facing an interruption of the water service. The main factors causing interruptions include pipeline breakage, cyclone impact, summer water depletion, construction work, motor damage, and reservoir cleaning.; Household income, education, satisfaction with water quality, supply water price, and sufficiency of water during summer directly affect consumers’ willingness to pay.;