Economic Assessment of Sanitation Interventions in Vietnam - WSP

Economic Assessment of Sanitation Interventions in Vietnam | Costs of Improved Sanitation and HygieneFIGURE 42: TOTAL COST PER RURAL HOUSEHOLD FOR MAJOR ITEMS (VND)Wet pit latrineSeptic tankCluster wastewatertreatmentDouble-vault compostingBiogas digesterCapital (total)Program (total)0 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 12,000,000VNDAnnualAverage annualFigure 41 illustrates the main contributors to economiccost in urban areas, showing clear increases in both capitaland recurrent costs as the ‘sanitation ladder’ is climbed.The centralized wastewater treatment option in urban areasinvolves the highest cost compared to other on-site sanitationoptions, with large investment required for collectionsewers and drains, and wastewater and sludge treatment facilities.Program costs vary from project to project (1.3%to 19.8% of total investment costs), whereas the highestratio of program costs is incurred by centralized wastewatermanagement projects.Figure 42 illustrates the main contributors to economic costin rural areas. It shows that, while there is no significant differencein average recurrent costs for all sanitation options,capital costs do vary. At the household level, a wet pit latrinerequires less investment, and cluster wastewater treatmentinvolves the highest investment cost. The latest treatment optionalso requires the highest annual cost. Septic tanks, double-vaultcomposting toilets, and biogas digesters entail thesame range of average annual costs per household. Programcosts varied from project to project (2.3% to 4.6% of totalinvestment costs).Figure 43 and Figure 44 present the proportions of financialcosts in terms of total economic cost, across allurban and rural sites, respectively. The proportions offinancial cost are high, ranging from 99.4% to 99.5% oftotal costs in urban areas, and 99.3% to 99.9% in ruralareas. Details of financial and economic costs are givenin Annex I. Non-financial costs from programmed sanitationimprovement projects in the current survey madeup a very low proportion of economic costs, and includedunpaid volunteer time and contributions of unusedconstruction materials by households. At national level,there are still number of activities where that proportioncould be much higher, for example, volunteer activitiesby youth.82Economic Assessment of Sanitation Interventions