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. 2017 Apr 7;7(3):369-377.
doi: 10.2166/washdev.2017.155.

The role of packaged water in meeting global targets on improved water access

Sridhar Vedachalam  1 , Luke H MacDonald  1 , Elizabeth Omoluabi  2 , Funmilola OlaOlorun  3 , Easmon Otupiri  4 , Kellogg J Schwab  1
Affiliations

The role of packaged water in meeting global targets on improved water access

Sridhar Vedachalam et al. J Water Sanit Hyg Dev. .

Abstract

Packaged water (as either refill, bottled, or sachet water) has become an important element of water security in many low- and middle-income countries, owing to poor reliability and lack of piped water infrastructure. However, over time and across countries, the Demographic and Health Surveys monitoring program has inconsistently classified packaged water components as either improved or unimproved. Using data collected as part of the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) surveys on water options in nine study geographies across eight countries, we identified five geographies where packaged water constituted one of several options for 5% or more of users. In this study, four scenarios were designed in which packaged water components were variously classified as either improved or unimproved. Unimproved water use was highest in scenarios where sachet or refill water was classified as an unimproved source. Across the four scenarios, the difference in the use of unimproved water as the main option was highest (65%) in Nigeria (Lagos). That difference increased to 78% when considering all regular options. The development of these scenarios highlights the importance of classifying a source as improved or unimproved in the overall metric that indicates progress at national and international levels.

Keywords: Ghana; Nigeria; bottled; improved; packaged water; sachet.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bottled water in a 1.5 L packaging and two 500 mL sachet water packs sold under various brands in GH (photo credit: author).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Use of packaged water for drinking needs in nine study geographies: Burkina Faso (BF), DR Congo (Kinshasa; CDK), Ethiopia (ET), Ghana (GH), Indonesia (ID), Niger (Niamey, NEN), Nigeria (Kaduna state; NGK), NG (Lagos state; NGL), and Uganda (UG).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Packaged water use as the main option stratified by location, in DR Congo (Kinshasa; CDK), Ghana (GH), Indonesia (ID), Nigeria (Kaduna state; NGK), and Nigeria (Lagos state; NGL). CDK and NGL sampling frame was restricted to urban respondents.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Local polynomial smoothing functions depicting packaged water use (main option) over normalized wealth score, in DR Congo (Kinshasa; CDK), Ghana (GH), Indonesia (ID), Nigeria (Kaduna state; NGK), and Nigeria (Lagos state; NGL). Note: Raw wealth scores for each study geography are normalized to range between 0 and 1 to ensure ease of overlay and comparison.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Use of unimproved water as the main drinking option under four scenarios, in DR Congo (Kinshasa; CDK), Ghana (GH), Indonesia (ID), Nigeria (Kaduna state; NGK), and Nigeria (Lagos state; NGL). As per the current DHS methodology, GH follows the ideal scenario, NGK and NGL follow the hybrid scenario, while sachet water is not classified explicitly as improved or unimproved in other regions (CDK and ID).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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