Universal Access to Safe Drinking Water: Escaping the Traps of Non-Frugal Technologies

Zhe Huang, Esther Laurentine Nya, Viet Cao, Willis Gwenzi, Mohammad Azizur Rahman and Chicgoua Noubactep
Additional contact information
Zhe Huang: School of Law, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Esther Laurentine Nya: Faculty of Art, Letter and Social Sciences, University of Maroua, Maroua P.O. Box 644, Cameroon
Viet Cao: Faculty of Natural Sciences, Hung Vuong University, Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, Viet Tri 35120, Phu Tho, Vietnam
Willis Gwenzi: Biosystems and Environmental Engineering Research Group, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Zimbabwe, Mt. Pleasant, Harare P.O. Box MP167, Zimbabwe
Mohammad Azizur Rahman: Technovative Solutions, Manchester Science Park, Manchester M15 6JJ, UK
Chicgoua Noubactep: Centre for Modern Indian Studies (CeMIS), Universität Göttingen, Waldweg 26, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 17, 1-15

Abstract: This communication is motivated by recent publications discussing the affordability of appropriate decentralized solutions for safe drinking water provision in low-income communities. There is a huge contrast between the costs of presented technologies, which vary by a factor of up to 12. For example, for the production of 2000 L/d of treated drinking water, the costs vary between about 1500 and 12,000 Euro. A closer look at the technologies reveals that expensive technologies use imported manufactured components or devices that cannot yet be locally produced. In the battle to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal for safe drinking water (SDG 6.1), such technologies should be, at best, considered as bridging solutions. For a sustainable self-reliance in safe drinking water supply, do-it-yourself (DIY) systems should be popularized. These DIY technologies include biochar and metallic iron (Fe 0 ) based systems. These relevant technologies should then be further improved through internal processes.

Keywords: appropriate technologies; cost-effectiveness; indigenous knowledge; point-of-use systems; self-reliance; water supply (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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