The Benefits of Improved Water Supply: Lessons learned from Sri Lanka

Abstract

Attached

The main objective o f the study was identifying the benefits o f improved water supply on households in Sri Lanka. The study area was selected based on the data provided by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board in Sri Lanka. In this study, we have employed the purposive sampling method to select the households. To understand the benefits experienced by households through piped water, mainly a structured survey questionnaire was provided to gather relevant information. Further focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted with selected households by the researcher. A closer look at the benefits o f the improved water supply on households shows that the reduction in workloads and time spent to fetch water is a remarkable advantage, that in turn to be readily transformed into enhanced economic opportunities. This study clearly shows that an appropriate institutional support was given with an easy access to resources; like water rural women have the ability to sustain their household economy participating at productive activities.