POLYTECHNIC OF NAMIBIA
University of Science and Technology
School of Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
ASSIGNMENT 3
Compiled by:
Petronella Buys
Student Number:
9763554
Presented to:
Mr. Andrea Vushe
Course name:
Water Utility Management
Course code:
WUM410S
Deadline:
7 October 2015
The Willingness to Pay Experiments: Estimating demand for piped water connections in Sri
Lanka. This paper shows how Willingness to Pay surveys can be used to gauge household
demand for improved network water and sanitation services when a private sector transaction
is considered. The survey included approximately 1800 households in the year of 2003. Using
multivariate regression, it ...view middle of the document...
Willingness to Pay data from CV surveys measure the amount of monthly income that the
household could give up after obtaining the improved network service and be just as well off as
in a situation without an improvement in water supply or sanitation. Thus, it is a measure of the
households’ economic value. Maximum willingness to pay and the survey response data define
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household values, underlie their demand for service improvements, and therefore inform tariff
design.
I currently live in Dorado Park, Windhoek, and am of the opinion that the Contingent Valuation
method can be applied in this community to determine their willingness to pay for improved
water quality and reliability of supply. Such survey will thus determine the monetary value that
households are willing to attach for an improved water service. Good quality water is vital for
health and improvement of the wellbeing of human beings. If the piped water distribution does
not provide good quality water continuously, concerned and private companies might
intervene. Therefore, such survey would not only provide information on the willingness to pay
for water bills only, but also for an improved and sustainable service provision.
Windhoek is the capital city of Namibia and thus the centre of many social and economic
activities. This has led to the rapid population increase in the last two decades, increased water
consumption and sanitation disposal, and to the cost of getting water to consumers and
removal of sanitation from households. Therefore, I foresee the need to investigate factors
influencing the households’ water consumption patterns and their willingness to pay for
improved water services, such as quality and reliability.
Currently there is evidence to suggest that the capacity of the current water sources for
Windhoek is overstretched. Therefore investigations will be required to identify reliable and
good quality water sources. This exercise might be costly and it needs to be determined what
the people are willing to pay for continuous good quality, reliable and improved water supply.
The CV method can be carried out by several ways such as the use of (1) direct questionnaires,...
