Author(s): Tran Thi Hoang Mai, Le Phuong Nam, Nguyen Van Song, Nguyen Van Huong, Nguyen Dang Que, Thai Van Ha, Louie Marie T. Eluriaga
Gia Lam district is an urban district, but 13 out of the 22 communes of Gia Lam district, representing 71% of the district's population, have no access to piped water services. This study was conducted to analyze the factors affecting households' decision and willingness to pay to connect to piped water. Primary data was collected by interviewing 200 randomly household heads. The contingent valuation method was used as well as data analysis by descriptive statistics and econometric models. The results showed about 78% of households in study sites were willing to shift to using piped water. The significant factors affecting the decision to connect to piped water system include households' income, education level, number of children in household, household's perception on quality of well water and monthly water expenditure. The willingness to pay for piped water services averages 4,314 VND/m3 or 152.95 thousand VND per month, accounting for 2.56% of the household's income. However, households cannot afford the full cost of installing piped water networks, so the government may subsidize the installation.