Valuing excess fluoride removal for safe drinking water in Kenya

Abstract

The study uses contingent valuation framework to assess the welfare benefits of removing excess fluoride from drinking water among households in Baringo County, Kenya. A conventional payment card is used to draw preferences from households in order to estimate the mean and median willingness to pay for excess fluoride removal from drinking water in the county. Through interval regression analysis, the study found that households were, on average, willing to pay Kshs. 202.25 ($2.02) and a median of Kshs. 162.50 ($1.63) to remove excess fluoride from drinking water. The mean and median welfare values of removing excess fluoride from water were estimated at Kshs. 112.4 ($1.12) and Kshs. 90.3 ($0.90) million, respectively. These amounts were significantly found to increase with male gender, education, household income, living in own house, type of water source, perceived water quality, distance to nearest water source, payment vehicle used and whether household members had suffered from fluorosis. However, these amounts declined with age and household size. On the whole, the study found significant public support towards the removal of excess fluoride in drinking water among the concerned households, which is vital for effective formation and implementation of water quality improvement policies for the county.