In Nepal, there are three types of water service providers; two types of government-managed service providers covering urban and municipal areas, and community-managed service providers called Water Users and Sanitation Associations (WUSAs). This study aims to assess the current water supply service levels and water supply inequalities of WUSAs in terms of water consumption, supply hours, and customer satisfaction. Among the three types of water service providers, WUSAs offered the best performance in terms of their low non-revenue water (NRW) rates and production costs, high bill collection rates, and long supply hours. During the COVID-19 lockdown, water consumption increased, but bill payment notably decreased, possibly due to restricted movement and hesitation by customers to make payments. The multiple-year water consumption variations illustrated the uneven water consumption behavior of customers. Despite the variation in water supply hours, Lorenz curves, Gini coefficients (G), and water consumption analysis depicted low inequalities (G ≈ 0.20–0.28) and adequate water consumption among WUSAs even in 2019–2020. In the three WUSAs, more than 90%, 74%, and 38% of customers consumed water above the basic, medium, and high levels, respectively. Thus, maintaining high service levels of WUSAs is instrumental in achieving Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nepal.

中文翻译：

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服务水平和COVID-19对尼泊尔社区管理的服务提供商的供水不平等的影响

在尼泊尔，水服务提供者分为三种类型：两种类型的政府管理的服务提供商涵盖城市和市政区域，而社区管理的服务提供商则称为用水用户和卫生协会（WUSAs）。这项研究旨在从用水量，供水时间和客户满意度方面评估WUSAs当前的供水服务水平和供水不平等。在三种类型的水服务提供商中，WUSA在非收入水（NRW）费率和生产成本低，票据收取率高以及供应时间长方面表现最佳。在COVID-19锁定期间，用水量增加了，但帐单支付明显减少了，这可能是由于客户的行动受限和付款时的犹豫。多年的用水量变化说明了客户的用水量行为不均。尽管供水时间有所不同，但洛伦兹曲线，基尼系数（G）和耗水量分析显示，即使在2019–2020年期间，WUSAs的不平等程度也较低（G≈0.20–0.28），并且耗水量充足。在这三个WUSA中，分别有超过90％，74％和38％的用户的用水量超过了基本，中等和较高水平。因此，保持WUSA的高服务水平有助于实现尼泊尔可持续发展目标（SDG）的目标6。28），甚至在2019–2020年期间WUSA的用水量也足够。在这三个WUSA中，分别有超过90％，74％和38％的用户的用水量超过了基本，中等和较高水平。因此，保持WUSA的高服务水平有助于实现尼泊尔可持续发展目标（SDG）的目标6。28），甚至在2019–2020年期间WUSA的用水量也足够。在这三个WUSA中，分别有超过90％，74％和38％的用户的用水量超过了基本，中等和较高水平。因此，保持WUSA的高服务水平有助于实现尼泊尔可持续发展目标（SDG）的目标6。