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Relative benefits of on‐plot water supply over other ‘improved’ sources in rural Vietnam
Author(s) -
Brown Joe,
Hien Vo Thi,
McMahan Lanakila,
Jenkins Marion W.,
Thie Lauren,
Liang Kaida,
Printy Erin,
Sobsey Mark D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/tmi.12010
Subject(s) - water supply , water quality , rural area , water source , environmental health , socioeconomics , geography , environmental science , business , water resource management , medicine , environmental engineering , economics , ecology , pathology , biology
Objective Access to improved water sources is rapidly expanding in rural central V ietnam. We examined one NGO ‐led piped water supply programme to assess the drinking water quality and health impacts of piped water systems where access to ‘improved’ water sources is already good. Methods This longitudinal, prospective cohort study followed 300 households in seven project areas in D a N ang province, V ietnam: 224 households who paid for an on‐plot piped water connection and 76 control households from the same areas relying primarily on ‘improved’ water sources outside the home. The 4‐month study was intended to measure the impact of the NGO ‐led water programmes on households' drinking water quality and health and to evaluate system performance. Results We found that: (i) households connected to a piped water supply had consistently better drinking water quality than those relying on other sources, including ‘improved’ sources and (ii) connected households experienced less diarrhoea than households without a piped water connection (adjusted longitudinal prevalence ratio: 0.57 (95% CI 0.39–0.86, P = 0.006) and households using an ‘improved’ source not piped to the plot: (adjusted longitudinal prevalence ratio: 0.59 (95% CI 0.39–0.91, P = 0.018). Conclusions Our results suggest that on‐plot water service yields benefits over other sources that are considered ‘improved’ by the WHO / UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme.