Evaluating the costs and components of a territory-wide household water storage and treatment program in the US Virgin Islands

• Published in: Water policy Vol. 24; no. 10; pp. 1692 - 1703
• Main Authors: Voth-Gaeddert, Lee E., Momberg, Douglas, Brathwaite, Kela, Schranck, Andrew, Libbey, Stephen, Lemley, Mandy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford IWA Publishing 01-10-2022
• Subjects: Barriers; Capital; Capital costs; Censuses; cistern water; Colonies & territories; Costs; Data analysis; Desalination; Desalination plants; Drinking water; Health care expenditures; Households; inline chlorinator; Installation; Installation costs; Islands; Municipal water; NGOs; Nongovernmental organizations; Pilot projects; Rain; Rain water; Rainwater recovery systems; roof-harvested rainwater; Security; stakeholder engagement; Stakeholders; Storage; Territorial waters; Treatment programs; usvi; uv water treatment; Water; Water desalting; Water harvesting; Water security; Water storage; Water treatment; Virgin Islands-US; United States > US
• ISSN: 1366-7017; 1996-9759
• DOI: 10.2166/wp.2022.127

Abstract
Among island communities, water security and access continue to be a critical issue. In the US Virgin Islands (USVI), 90% of households are capable of collecting roof-harvested rainwater, whereas less than 25% of households are connected to a municipal water system serviced by desalination plants. Rainwater collection leaves the household in charge of managing and treating their own water. Therefore, understanding current barriers to accessing water treatment technologies and the costs of a water storage and treatment program at scale are critical in developing a territory-wide program. In this study, we evaluate (1) household-level barriers to accessing water treatment technologies, (2) a cost breakdown of a UV water treatment pilot program, and (3) potential estimates of program costs at a territory-wide scale. The results suggest that for households, key barriers include knowledge of the problem or solution and capital and installation costs. From the programmatic cost evaluation, the water treatment technology and water testing services were the most expensive. However, given key adjustments, a territory-wide program is estimated to cost $30.4 M covering 50% of households. These data can be used by a coalition of stakeholders in allocating financial and managerial responsibility for a territory-wide water storage and treatment program in USVI.