Welfare estimation of groundwater arsenic contamination in India: Insights for water policy

This paper assessed the value of health and associated welfare benefits due to groundwater arsenic contamination in Bihar, India. Three stage least squares methods is used to estimate three structural equations (medical expenditure, averting expenditure and number of sick days) to determine the health costs due to arsenicosis. Household drinking water source is tested through the field test kit and results shown that 23.26% and 53.89% of the household drinking water source contained arsenic unto 10 μL⁻¹ (WHO standard), 17.68% and 16.19% sample contained arsenic between 11 and 50 μL⁻¹ (BIS standard) and 59.06% and 29.47 % of the water sample contained arsenic concentration >50 μL⁻¹ in Patna and Bhojpur districts, respectively. The probability of arsenicosis among adults is 0.054. The welfare benefits to the society among surveyed household due to arsenic removal at safe level is estimated as INR 0.3 million (US $ 5556). The monthly and annual economic benefits to both the blocks if arsenic is reduced at WHO level of 10 μL⁻¹ are estimated as INR 58.4 (US $ 1.08) and INR 700.8 (US $ 12.97) million, respectively. Health costs is more among low-income household than the high-income household and welfare gains differ significantly among arsenic concentration levels. The monthly mean medical expenditure among the low-income households found to be highest compared to the high income and the households with low concentration of arsenic in their water sources. However, the mean averting expenditure was highest among high income and high arsenic concentration households. The paper suggests a policy to provide the safe drinking water among the inhabitant in the arsenic contaminated regions.