1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910811541303321

Autore

(OECD) Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

Titolo

Benefits of investing in water and sanitation : an OECD perspective

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Paris : , : OECD Publishing, , 2011

ISBN

1-78040-605-3

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (148 pages)

Collana

OECD Research Report Series

Disciplina

363.61

Soggetti

Sanitation - Economic aspects

Sewage disposal - Economic aspects

Water-supply - Economic aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Cover -- Copyright -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Table of contents -- Abbreviations and acronyms -- Executive Summary -- Introduction -- Overview -- Why is it important to assess benefits from investing in water and sanitation? -- Structure of the report -- Chapter 1: Setting the stage -- 1.1. Evaluating the size of the investment challenge -- 1.2 The value chain of water and sanitation services -- 1.3 Potential benefits along the WSS value chain: an overview -- Chapter 2: Providing access to services -- 2.1 Types of investment -- 2.2 Health benefits from improving access to services -- 2.3 Non-health benefits -- Chapter 3: Investing downstream in wastewater treatment and safe disposal -- 3.1 Investments in wastewater treatment -- 3.2 Benefits from wastewater treatment -- Chapter 4: Managing water supply and demand in a sustainable manner -- 4.1 Protecting the quality of the resource -- 4.2 Balancing water supply and demand -- Chapter 5: Policy implications -- 5.1 Benefits from investing in WSS: key findings -- 5.2 Using benefit information for policy and investment decisions -- 5.3 Additional research needed to support policy making -- Bibliography -- Annex A: Evaluating the benefits: methodological issues -- A.1. Defining and valuing benefits -- A.2. Measuring health benefits -- A.3. Estimating environmental benefits -- A.4. Accounting for economic benefits -- A.5. Including other benefits.

Sommario/riassunto

The provision of water supply, sanitation and wastewater services



generates substantial benefits for public health, the economy and the environment. Benefit-to-cost ratios can be as high as 7 to 1 for basic water and sanitation services in developing countries. Wastewater treatment interventions, for example, generate significant benefits for public health, the environment and for certain economic sectors such as fisheries, tourism and property markets. The full magnitude of the benefits of water services is seldom considered for a number of reasons, including the difficulty in quantifying important non-economic benefits such as non-use values, dignity, social status, cleanliness and overall well-being. Also, information about the benefits of water services is usually hidden in the technical literature, where it remains invisible to key decision-makers in ministries. This report draws together and summarises existing information on the benefits of water and sanitation.