How to assess the quality dimension of urban infrastructure: The case of water supply in Delhi

In official statistics, the percentage of population with access to potable water is considered a relevant measure of water supply. This hypothesis can be discussed and reality is more complex. Like most infrastructure services, water supply has a quality dimension. This research is an essay of infrastructure quality. It aims at understanding the reality of water supply for households with piped water supply and at measuring the costs of water supply unreliability. The study is conducted in Delhi, Every year, on average, each household spends around 2000 rupees to cope with unreliable supply, which is 5.5 times more than what they pay to municipal authorities for their annual water consumption, For Delhi, the costs of water supply unreliability are estimated to reach around 3 billions of Rs., that is more than twice the amount of expenditures on water supply. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.