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The effect of water quality testing on household behavior: evidence from an experiment in rural India.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Hamoudi, A; Jeuland, M; Lombardo, S; Patil, S; Pattanayak, SK; Rai, S
Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
July 2012

How does specific information about contamination in a household's drinking water affect water handling behavior? We randomly split a sample of households in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. The treatment group observed a contamination test of the drinking water in their own household storage vessel; while they were waiting for their results, they were also provided with a list of actions that they could take to remedy contamination if they tested positive. The control group received no test or guidance. The drinking water of nearly 90% of tested households showed evidence of contamination by fecal bacteria. They reacted by purchasing more of their water from commercial sources but not by making more time-intensive adjustments. Providing salient evidence of risk increases demand for commercial clean water.

Duke Scholars

Published In

The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene

DOI

EISSN

1476-1645

ISSN

0002-9637

Publication Date

July 2012

Volume

87

Issue

1

Start / End Page

18 / 22

Related Subject Headings

  • Water Supply
  • Water Microbiology
  • Tropical Medicine
  • Rural Population
  • India
  • Family Characteristics
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Hamoudi, A., Jeuland, M., Lombardo, S., Patil, S., Pattanayak, S. K., & Rai, S. (2012). The effect of water quality testing on household behavior: evidence from an experiment in rural India. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 87(1), 18–22. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2012.12-0051
Hamoudi, Amar, Marc Jeuland, Sarah Lombardo, Sumeet Patil, Subhrendu K. Pattanayak, and Shailesh Rai. “The effect of water quality testing on household behavior: evidence from an experiment in rural India.The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 87, no. 1 (July 2012): 18–22. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2012.12-0051.
Hamoudi A, Jeuland M, Lombardo S, Patil S, Pattanayak SK, Rai S. The effect of water quality testing on household behavior: evidence from an experiment in rural India. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 2012 Jul;87(1):18–22.
Hamoudi, Amar, et al. “The effect of water quality testing on household behavior: evidence from an experiment in rural India.The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, vol. 87, no. 1, July 2012, pp. 18–22. Epmc, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2012.12-0051.
Hamoudi A, Jeuland M, Lombardo S, Patil S, Pattanayak SK, Rai S. The effect of water quality testing on household behavior: evidence from an experiment in rural India. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 2012 Jul;87(1):18–22.

Published In

The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene

DOI

EISSN

1476-1645

ISSN

0002-9637

Publication Date

July 2012

Volume

87

Issue

1

Start / End Page

18 / 22

Related Subject Headings

  • Water Supply
  • Water Microbiology
  • Tropical Medicine
  • Rural Population
  • India
  • Family Characteristics
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences