Water Insecurity and Sanitation in Asia

Abstract

As Asia rapidly urbanizes, providing water and sanitation services has become problematic. Most developing country governments in the region cannot deliver the required services themselves, and the private sector is reluctant to invest due to the risks and low returns, especially for sanitation. Public–private partnerships in water supply and sanitation have had mixed results, making sustainable sanitation a particularly challenging problem. Fortunately, there are new and innovative ways to solve the problem of sustainable financing for water and sanitation services. One such innovative method, as demonstrated in some countries, is based on the idea that water and sanitation infrastructure generates positive spillover effects that can be captured and returned to investors to increase the rate of return and, hence, the incentive to invest. These positive spillover effects include a significant reduction in morbidity from water-borne diseases, more affordable water supply, increase in water consumption, and the appreciation of urban property values. The benefits of sanitation infrastructure are also significant and include reductions in diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and hepatitis, along with an increase in local economic development, a reduction in groundwater contamination, improvement in the recharge status of nearby aquifers, and economic benefits, such as the reuse of treated water for agriculture and/or industrial purposes and in terms of waste-to-energy benefits. Higher property values mean higher tax revenues, which can then be reinvested in other infrastructure, thus generating a virtuous cycle.

Keywords: Agriculture and farming, Public sector governance, Water