Evaluation of Demand for Sanitation Services in Peri-urban Arequipa, Peru – 2012.
Kyle Shimabuku, University of Colorado.
From March to July 2011 CU students, Water for People staff, and UCSP students designed a survey (annex). Water for People’s smartphone survey application, Field-Level Operations Watch (FLOW), was utilized to collect responses. A stratified, random-cluster sampling procedure was used to generalize data across the different zones of interest. Spanning an approximately 3-week period, 347 surveys were completed. A significant portion (~70%) of households surveyed plan on improving their sanitation facility in the next three years and have discretionary income, 300 sols or $110 US on average, to do so. Moreover, 90% of households have access to some type of sanitation facility, indicating a substantial amount of prior investment. Analysis using geographical information systems (GIS) was useful for understanding the influence of receiving government provided sewerage on demand.
From this study, there are several recommendations. For future studies, consulting informants outside of SEDAPAR (Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Arequipa), and district officials, such as local residents, to identify potential survey sites prior to transporting entire survey teams is encouraged. Time was wasted trying to find locations without sewerage after survey teams arrived at locations where sewerage already existed because of misinformation informants provided. During several interviews peri-urban residents stated that they were unaware of what improvements could be made to sanitation facilities. Therefore, it is advocated that a marketing campaign be conducted to stimulate demand.
