Rural communities' perception of and willingness to pay for wastewater and stormwater management infrastructure in Bihar, India

Management of wastewater and stormwater is required for achieving total sanitation and conservation of fresh water resources. The wastewater and stormwater management (WSM) infrastructure suitable to rural areas is usually determined based on technical, environmental, and economic considerations and local communities' perception of infrastructure is ignored. This study analyses the rural communities' choice and perception of WSM infrastructure and their willingness to pay (WTP) for their improvement and maintenance. The households' choice and perception of different aspects of rural WSM infrastructure are determined using the RIDIT (relative to an identified distribution and transformation) analysis, service quality gap analysis, through establishing the relationship between households' satisfaction with individual aspects and overall quality of WSM, and WTP for the service improvement and maintenance. The study finds that rural people like to dispose of wastewater offsite as a good network of drains is found in the villages. However, several aspects of WSM are perceived as poor and require the attention of the policymakers. The rural households want improvement in several attributes and are willing to pay for the maintenance of improved service. The service quality of individual attributes of WSM infrastructure and socioeconomic characteristics of the households are essential determinants of their WTP.