The willingness to pay for access to piped water: a hedonic analysis of house prices in Southwest Sri Lanka

We apply a hedonic house price analysis to value connection to the piped water network in Southwest Sri Lanka based on a household survey that was conducted in 2003-04. We find that the willingness-to-pay for a piped water connection is on average about 5 percent of monthly household expenditure, which is at the lower end of the range from estimates obtained in case studies in other developing countries. In addition, the willingness-to-pay for piped water decreases as a proportion of income when income goes up. An important policy conclusion is that connection to the piped water system should be considered in relation to the availability and quality of alternative water sources. If alternative sources with good water quality are available, the need for a piped water connection is less urgent. Copyright The Author(s) 2012