Benefits of Investing in Water and Sanitation
An OECD Perspective
The provision of water supply, sanitation and wastewater services generates substantial
benefits for public health, the economy and the environment. Benefit-to-cost ratios
can be as high as 7 to 1 for basic water and sanitation services in developing countries.
Wastewater treatment interventions, for example, generate significant benefits for
public health, the environment and for certain economic sectors such as fisheries,
tourism and property markets.
The full magnitude of the benefits of water services is seldom considered for a number
of reasons, including the difficulty in quantifying important non-economic benefits
such as non-use values, dignity, social status, cleanliness and overall well-being.
Also, information about the benefits of water services is usually hidden in the technical
literature, where it remains invisible to key decision-makers in ministries.
This report draws together and summarises existing information on the benefits of
water and sanitation.
Published on March 17, 2011Also available in: French
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