Sanitation: high return on investment says WaterAid report

Updated - Monday 19 November 2007

The global return on investing in low-cost sanitation is projected at roughly US$ 9 for every US$ 1 spent, with even higher returns for universal coverage, says a report [1] launched on 1 October 2007 by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and WaterAid. Failure to implement the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets for water and sanitation would have an economic cost of around US$ 38 billion (EUR 26 billion) per year, with sanitation accounting for 92% of this value, the report adds.

The above figures are drawn from earlier work published by the World Health Organization [2]. The Water Aid report suggests that further research on economic impact should include wider sensitivity analysis, considering different choices of technology, further investigation of the role of convenience time, and other important indirect benefits such as girls’ school participation and environmental effects.

The aim of the WaterAid report is to inform public policy debate during the International Year of Sanitation in 2008. At the current rate of progress the MDG target for sanitation will not be met until 2076.

[1] Kemeny, T. (2007). Sanitation and economic development: making the case for the MDG orphan. London, UK, WaterAid. PDF file

[2] Hutton, G., Haller, L., and Bartram, J. (2006). Economic and health effects of increasing coverage of low cost water and sanitation interventions. (Human Development Report Office occasional paper). PDF file

For more on economic impacts see: International Year of Sanitation 2008 - Sanitation Generates Economic Benefits

Source: WaterAid, Oct 2007