Cost of water in developing countries

Q: For my project on water privatization I need to find up-to-date information about the cost of water in developing countries. I have been searching online, but have been unable to find information on this.
(Student, International Business Class, USA)

Answer: The cost of water in developing countries depends on many things. Do you mean the costs for the consumers? This depends vary much on the policy and tariff structure used in the village, town, district, region, or country you are living. However, almost in all cases it seems to be the case that poor people pay more for the same amount of water than the better off.

For example: In Manilla, the poor pay 9 times more than ´regular´ consumers, in Lagos, 10 times, in Cairo 40 times, in Jakarta, 60 times, and in Karachi 83 times!

From a management or policy point of view, it is important to know how much it costs to provide -or to improve- access to water (and sanitation).

The calculation of costs of improved water supply and sanitation, as defined by WHO, covers both investment and recurrent costs. For improved water supply the following elements are mentioned:
- House connection
- Standpost/pipe
- Borehole
- Protected spring or well
- Collected rain water
- Water disinfected at the point-of-use

Source: Hutton and Haller (see below), 2004, 9. In their publication you can also read the annual costs for improvements on a per-person-reached basis

For an overview of these and other issues around financing and cost recovery, please take a look at the following publications:

Fonseca, C. and Cardone, R. (2004). Financing and cost recovery. Thematic Overview Paper. Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. Available at: http://www.irc.nl/page/7582

This TOP provides an overview on financing and cost recovery for the water supply and sanitation services sector in rural and low-income urban areas of developing countries. The first five chapters of the document provide a general overview and are available as webpages, together with Case studies and Mini Reviews of best publications on financing and cost recovery. Within the sector, much of the data used and issues discussed are highly controversial, which reflects many of the knowledge gaps and research challenges ahead.

Fonseca, C. and Cardone, R. (2006). Cost estimates, budgets, aid and the water sector : what’s going on? : an analysis illustrated with data from 12 Sub-Saharan African countries. Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. – 14 p. : 4 fig., 6 tab. – 24 ref. Available at: http://www.irc.nl/page/33109

In this analysis the authors focus on the adequacy of estimates of the cost of providing access to water and sanitation per capita in these countries, rather than how effective or efficient the funding flows may be. This document forms the basis for WELL Briefing Note 36

Hutton, G. and Haller, L. (2004). Evaluation of the costs and benefits of water and sanitation improvements at the global level. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization. 87 p. WHO/SDE/WSH/04.04. [715 KB]