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Water and Asian Cities
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Water is a socially vital economic good that needs increasingly careful management to sustain equitable economic growth, reduce poverty, and avoid a water crisis. Worldwide, the number of urban dwellers without an adequate water supply is increasing rapidly, and the majority of these people live in the Asia and Pacific region.
HOME DELIVERY In a Phnom Penh neighborhood, water is delivered by rail
At least 40% of the region’s urban poor have no piped water in their homes.
Poor people tend to dwell on the outskirts of cities, or on marginal, unserviced land within cities. In most cases, the price for water in areas not covered by utility networks may be 10 to 20 times higher than standard utility tariffs.
In some major cities, small-scale private water vendors may account for as much as 70% of the total revenues generated from water distribution.
It is a common belief that the urban poor are unwilling to pay for water. This is not so. Rather, the poorest people have to pay the highest price for water.
Small-scale water vendors receive no government support or subsidies, and charge full price for delivery. The economic impact of small water vendors on the sector—and on the poor—is significant.
To improve service delivery in urban and semiurban areas, a greater understanding of the economic impact of small-scale water vending is needed.
ADB is undertaking a Study on Water in Asian Cities to understand better who provides water, and how to serve the 40% of the urban population without access to piped water.
The study will support the preparation of the Water and Asian Cities theme of the 3rd World Water Forum to be held in Osaka in March 2003.
The study’s long-term objective is to improve urban water supply services to poor households at affordable rates, and in doing so, enhance their quality of life.
It will increase stakeholder awareness of urban water sector issues, and provide policymakers with insights into the role water utility networks and small-scale private water providers play in the sector. It will also explore the regulatory and policy framework needed to improve water services for the urban poor.
The study involves two components—water supply in 20 Asian cities, and urban small-scale water providers—carried out at the same time.
Drawing on the earlier work published in ADB’s Second Water Utilities Data Book, the selected cities for the Water Supply in the Asian Cities component of the study are Colombo, Delhi, Dhaka, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Osaka, Phnom Penh, Seoul, Shanghai, Tashkent, Ulaanbaatar, and Vientiane.
The themes addressed in the study include the following.
Water Resources Management. Sources of water, watershed rehabilitation, water conservation, competing water uses, trading water rights, wastewater recycling, water pollution control, and institutional arrangements.
Policy and Regulatory Structures. Tariff policy; service levels; operator performance and incentives; and economic, environmental and health regulation; independence; and autonomy. Operators. Private and public sectors, types of public-private partnerships, attitudes, investments, performance, nonrevenue water, staffing, and training.
COSTLY WATER The price for water in areas not covered by utility networks, like this one in Viet Nam, may be 10 to 20 times higher than standard utility tariffs
Small-Scale Water Service Providers and the Urban Poor. Types, extent, revenue turnover, unit cost to customer, levels of service, controls, water sources, water quality, and profitability of business.
Tariffs and Subsidies. Domestic and nondomestic tariffs, cross-subsidies, revenues, operation and maintenance costs, demand management, government subsidies, sewerage tariff, nonrevenue water, connection fees, and investments. Service Levels. Domestic connections, public taps, other connections, other sources of supply, per capita consumption, bottled water, coverage with piped supply—intermittent water supply and in-house pumping, storage, and water treatment. Wastewater and Sanitation. Sewerage coverage, sewage treatment, on-site sanitation, septic tanks, sludge disposal, town planning, investments, industrial effluents, environmental conditions, and institutional aspects of sanitation management. Flood Management. Susceptibility to flooding, area and frequency, damage prevention and control, institutional aspects, town planning, and investments.
Water and Culture. How water features in the culture, traditions, religion, or mythologies, as well as places in the city that are sacred or famous for water-related events.
The study’s second part will focus on gathering and analyzing information about small-scale private water providers in areas not served by utilities in eight cities — Cebu, Delhi, Dhaka, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Shanghai, and Ulaanbaatar — to understand the different water sector participants, their relationships with customers, and how they could offer better service.
Policy implications for projects to improve water supply to the urban poor will be analyzed and this information shared with practitioners and policymakers.
Read more about water and cities.
Find out how ADB and its partners address the problem on water in the Asia-Pacific region
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