Evaluation of a Slum Upgrading Program for Improvement of Water Supply in Bandung City, Indonesia

Abstract

A slum upgrading program has provided communal boreholes (KOTAKU boreholes) to improve water supply in slums of Indonesia. However, the achievement of the program was only estimated by the number of households served with the boreholes. We evaluated the water supply improvement by comparing actual water consumption, quality, and expenditure and household satisfaction of existing water sources in a slum of Bandung City, Indonesia. A high iron concentration and microbial contamination were observed in some KOTAKU boreholes, but the quality was better than that in the previous sources of the current KOTAKU borehole users. Twenty percent of the users spend more than 4% of their income on water due to bottled water and vended water for drinking and cooking. However, KOTAKU boreholes replaced that water for drinking and/or cooking, resulting in less water expenditure in low-income households. The average consumption was 134 L per capita per day (LPCD), which was higher than the target (60 LPCD) of the program. However, it was found that a highly intermittent water supply was the reason for household dissatisfaction rather than the amount of consumption. The program improved water supply; however, this study revealed the limitations of the water supply, namely, a lack of attention to continuous water supply and water quality.