Drinking-Water Quality in Neighborhood Kiosks: Suppliers' Willingness to Test Their Water in Northern Haiti.

For-profit drinking water vendors, known as kiosks, sell safe drinking water to residents in neighborhoods in Haiti. Kiosks increased in number to address health concerns related to the 2010 cholera outbreak and have been a regular feature in a nation with few functioning water systems. However, years after the donor-funded expansion of drinking-water kiosks, waterborne diseases are still common in the Northern Corridor of the country. This paper assesses water quality at kiosks in the Northern Corridor, the extent to which kiosk owners currently test their water, and their willingness to pay for periodic water testing at a new laboratory in Limonade, Haiti. We collected water samples from 93 kiosks across three cities in northern Haiti and surveyed the kiosk operators. We find that 60% of the samples tested positive for total coliforms, and only 53% met the World Health Organization's guidelines for E. coli, demonstrating the need for water testing and additional treatment in some cases. However, 39% of the kiosk operators surveyed reported not testing their water at all. An identical 39% indicated that they would not be willing to pay to test their water, with the remaining 61% willing to pay between 2000 and 3500 gourdes ($15-$26) per sample for water testing. Our findings suggest that a consumer-driven or regulatory approach might be necessary to increase water testing in the Northern Corridor.