chapter 4 field study

Recommendations for Water Supply Projects in Developing Countries: A Case Study in Amphoe Sattahip (Thailand) Chapter 4: Field Study 34

Chapter 4 Field Study A series of interviews about sources of water and water uses has been carried out within the households in Samaesarn subdistrict. From the interviews and from the observation during the fieldwork useful information has been collected to describe the actual situation in Samaesarn subdistrict regarding water supply. 4.1 Planning and Methodology of Work 4.1.1. Selection of the Study Area Within the four subdistricts at Amphoe Sattahip supplied by Universal Utilities Co. Ltd. (Sattahip, Bang Sare, Phlu Ta Luang, and Samaesarn), Samaesarn subdistrict has been chosen as a study area because it is still having a high percentage of households without connection to piped water, offering more interesting problems to study. 4.1.2. Tools used in the Study The interviews have been carried out following a model questionnaire. The questionnaire is divided into 2 different parts:

SECTION 1: Housing and Socio-economic Characteristics. This section tries to describe the interviewed household asking personal data about its members like, number of members in the household, age, education, occupation, monthly income of the household. Data about the building is also asked like, type of house, number and type of bathrooms and toilets in the house, different appliances related with water supply owned in the house.

SECTION 2: Water sources and Water Use Practices In this section the interviewed is asked about different sources of water used in the household and about different water use practices as well. Questions about how the consumers perceive the quality of the water that they use (according to the source), and how do they perceive the quality of the piped water service (if they have connection to piped water) are also asked. For those households that do not have connection to piped water there is a question about the reasons why they still not connecting to the piped water system.

Initially the questionnaire was designed to study water demand and water consumption, and it is based on model questionnaires used in other similar projects [1]. After some changes in the aim of the project some of the questions in the questionnaire have become useless for the study, especially those related with the identification of the water demand and water consumption. In spite of the model questionnaire had been thought to fulfil a


different initial target it has provided very useful information regarding water supply situation in the study area. The interviews have been done in Thai, with the help of a thai Master Student from the Sanitary Engineering Department, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University (Bangkok). Two copies of the model questionnaire used in the carrying out of the interviews, one in english and one in thai, are included in Annex IV. A private water vendor has been also interviewed following a different model questionnaire, to find out which are the sources of water that private vendors use and the price that they sell the water to the consumers.

Some photographs from the surveyed area and some field notes taken during the carrying out of the interviews are also used as a tool to describe the situation regarding water supply in Samaesarn subdistrict. 4.1.3. Size of the Sample The initial target was to interview 100 households that represent almost a 7 % of the total number of registered households in the area. Finally the lack of time and the difficulty to find a student with free time to be my counter-part have reduced the initial target to 85 interviews. The selected sample is a random sample within the 4 different areas of Samaesarn subdistrict. The interviewed households are chosen at random, but trying to fit the percentages of the “theoretical” reality with the ones obtained from the sample. That means that if the Chong Samaesarn area represents the 28% of the total number of registered households in Samaesarn subdistrict, the number of households interviewed in Chong Samaesarn area should be approximately the 28% of the total number of interviewed households. The percentage of households without connection to piped water obtained from the sample should be approximately the 60% of the total number of interviewed households as well. In Table 4.1 and 4.2 percentages from the registered data and percentages obtained from the sample are represented.


Registered data (1) Total number Percentage Households in Samaesarn Subdistrict 1493 100 % Households with connection to piped water in Samaesarn subdistrict 585 39 % Households without connection to piped water in Samaesarn subdistrict 908 61 % 1. Chong Samaesarn area Households 416 28 % Households with connection to piped water 178 43 % Households without connection to piped water 238 57 % 2. Nong Ngram Khem Households 513 34 % Households with connection to piped water 208 41 % Households without connection to piped water 305 59 % 3. Hua Haem Households 276 19 % Households with connection to piped water 134 49 % Households without connection to piped water 142 51 % 4. Nong Krajong Households 288 19 % Households with connection to piped water 65 23 % Households without connection to piped water 223 77 %

(1) Registered data are from the end of May 2002.

Table 4.1: Percentages of registered piped water connections in different areas of

Samaesarn subdistrict. Data from the sample Total number Percentage Interviewed households in Samaesarn Subdistrict 85 100 % Interviewed households with connection to piped water in Samaesarn subdistrict 48 56 %

Interviewed households without connection to piped water in Samaesarn subdistrict 37 44 %

1. Chong Samaesarn area Interviewed households 20 24 % Interviewed households with connection to piped water 14 70 % Interviewed households without connection to piped water 6 30 % 2. Nong Ngram Khem Interviewed households 29 34 % Interviewed households with connection to piped water 22 76 % Interviewed households without connection to piped water 7 24 % 3. Hua Haem Interviewed households 14 16 % Interviewed households with connection to piped water 11 79 % Interviewed households without connection to piped water 3 21 % 4. Nong Krajong Interviewed households 22 26 % Interviewed households with connection to piped water 1 5 % Interviewed households without connection to piped water 21 95 %

Table 4.2: Percentages of piped water connections obtained from the interviewed

sample.


From Table 4.1 and Table 4.2 it follows that the obtained sample and the supposed reality do not match in percentages of households with connection to piped water in each area. This could be because of the quality of the sample. Although the sample has been chosen at random within all the households in each area, maybe a higher number of interviews is needed to get a more real and representative sample. Another explanation is also possible; during the fieldwork interviewing people it has come out that the registered data and percentages are not accurate. There are unregistered connections like people who connect to the neighbour’s or to a relative’s piped water connection because of the high price of the connection fee. There are also rented houses that do not have their own meter but they are connected to the piped water system from the owner’s house, so the owner sells piped water to the tenants. These unregistered connections could be also a reasonable explanation to the difference between the sample and the registered data.

Maybe the quality of the sample is not enough good to obtain reliable statistic figures from the questionnaires, but the sampling is still a very useful tool to get a clearer understanding of the situation regarding water supply in Samaesarn subdistrict.

4.1.4. Collection of the Data The interviews following the model questionnaire have been carried out during 2 different visits to Samaesarn of 4 and 3 days duration respectively. In the first visit, 73 interviews have been done, random within the 4 different areas of Samaesarn subdistrict. In the second visit, it was planned to interview 27 households more to reach the initial target of 100 hundred interviews, but finally only 12 more interviews were carried out. In this second visit the selection of the interviewed households was done trying to fit the percentages of the sample with the supposed reality, which was not possible due to different factors as it is explained in point number 4.1.3. During the performance of the interviews very useful information has come out, not only from the questions raised at the questionnaire, but from the informal talks with the interviewed people. All this additional information has been collected as field notes. Also some photographs related to the water supply situation in Samaesarn subdistrict have been taken during the fieldwork.

From the Universal Utilities Co. Ltd. office in Amphoe Sattahip water consumption data in Samaesarn subdistrict have been collected, as well as other useful information like maps, and information related to the company’s organization and management. The water consumption data obtained from the registered meter reading (m3/month) go from March 2001 to April 2002.


4.1.5. Significance of the Data The quality of the sample, as it is explained in point number 4.1.3 could be not good enough to obtain from it reliable statistic figures, in any case this was not the intention of the project either. The figures and percentages obtained from the questionnaires and used in this report do not pretend to provide and exact percentage, but just want to point out some tendencies representative of the habits and uses regarding water supply of the population in Samaesarn. The information obtained from the questionnaires will be used to identify and to assess some interesting problems regarding water supply in Samaesarn subdistrict. These problems will be stated in this report in a very simple way using some photographs and figures to provide a clear and understandable picture of the actual situation. The analysis of the findings will try to point out some interesting points as well as to get some useful conclusions and recommendations that maybe could be helpful to solve some of the problems. It should be remembered that this study is tentative and pioneering in order to learn from experience and identify possible problems in provincial water supply systems in Thailand and similar developing economies. It is supposed to suggest ways and means to remedy possible problems, including the need for more comprehensive studies before implementation of remedial action.


4.2 Observed Characteristics of the Study Area 4.2.1 Samaesarn Subdistrict As it is explained in chapter number 3, Samaesarn is one of the 5 subdistricts in Amphoe Sattahip. It is located by the sea and it is divided into 4 different areas (1.Chong Samaesarn, 2. Nong Ngram Khem, 3. Hua Haem, and 4. Nong Krajong). Areas number 1 and 2 are the most populated areas, and constitute the central and main part of the subdistrict.

Figure 4.1: Main road along areas number 1, 2 and 3.

The houses along the main streets have almost all connection to piped water. Usually the households without connection to piped water in areas number 1 and 2 are located in secondary streets like the one in Figure 4.2.


Figure 4.2: Secondary street in area number 1. Some of the streets in areas number 1, 2 and 3 are constructed over the sea and supported by piles, as it can be seen in Figures 4.3 and 4.4.

Figure 4.3: Street supported by piles. Figure 4.4: Street supported by piles.


Area number 4 has the lowest number of connections to piped water. Most of it is far away from the centre of the subdistrict and the characteristics of the area are also quite different from areas number 1, 2 and 3. In Figure 4.5 a household in area number 4 is shown.

Figure 4.5: Household in area number 4. There are 2 Buddhist temples in Samaesarn subdistrict, a big one in area number 2 and a smaller one in area number 3. In Figure 4.6 the temple located in area number 2 can be seen.

Figure 4.6: Temple in Nong Ngram Khem area.


In the sketch bellow is shown where the photographs have been taken.

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Figure 4.7: Sketch of Samaesarn Subdistrict.


4.2.2 Water Supply Most of the people in Samaesarn subdistrict use more than one source of water. The different sources of water used in the community and reported in the interviews are: piped water, water from private vendors, rainwater, water from wells and bottled water. Regarding piped water supply, a usual connection and piped water equipment can be seen in Figures 4.8 and 4.9.

Figure 4.8: Meter and Connection.

Figure 4.9: Connection.


Most of the private water vendors that served the area of Samaesarn get the water from a surface water pond constructed by the local people. This pond collects the water released from a reservoir located upstream and belonging to the military. In Figures 4.10 and 4.11 the pond where the private vendors get the water, and the pumping system that they use to fill their tracks are shown.

Figure 4.10: Pond.

Figure 4.11: Pumping System.


There are also private vendors that get the water from wells. In Figure 4.12 a typical private water vendor track can be seen. The capacity of its tank is 6 m3.

Figure 4.12: Private Water Vendor Track.

Almost every household has a system to collect rainwater from the roof. Different types of rainwater collectors are shown in Figures 4.13, 4.14 and 4.15.

Figure 4.13: Rainwater Collector.


In some areas of Samaesarn subdistrict people get the water from their own wells, like the one shown in Figure 4.16.

Figure 4.16: Private Well. In area number 4 there are some public wells constructed by the municipality like the one shown in Figure 4.17.

Figure 4.17: Public Well in Nong Krajong area.


Also in the temple located in area number 2, there are 3 wells that could be used by the people, as the area around the temple is considered a public area. People have stopped using this wells because the water from them was brackish. In Figure 4.18 a well in the temple can be seen.

Figure 4.18: Well in the temple in Nong Ngram Khem area.

Most of the people in Samaesarn subdistrict use also bottled water. They buy the water in containers of approximately 20 litres.


4.2.3 Sanitation There is not any kind of wastewater treatment in Samaesarn subdistrict. In some areas the wastewater is collected by sewers and convey it to the sea. In other areas the wastewater goes directly to the ground. In Figure 4.19 an open sewer can be seen.

Figure 4.19: Sewer

chapter 4 field study

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