Abstract
The performance and improvement of sanitation services in developing countries including India is usually monitored using the parameter ‘availability of household toilets’ and the tool ‘sanitation ladder’ which is defined using different excreta disposal systems. These assessment criteria are developed from the perspective of experts’ rather than users’ perspective and take into consideration only a few attributes which mask the quality of several other attributes of toilets which are essential for the functionality and sustained use of toilets. The current study determines appropriate level of service (LOS) scales/ranges for different aspects of household toilets from users’ perspective using the concept of LOS and applies the same to analyze the quality of service of attributes of household toilets specified in sanitation programs. While LOS scale for quantitative attributes is directly determined through successive interval scaling technique, the LOS scale for qualitative attributes is developed by obtaining a quantitative score for qualitative data using RIDIT analysis and then employing the successive interval scaling technique. This study has found that the LOS of some of the attributes specified under sanitation program is below acceptable LOS (LOS C) which requires improvement.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Census of India. (2011). Percentage of households to total households by amenities and assets. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/HLO/HL_PCA/Houselisting-housing-BR.html
Chang, H., & Chang, H. (2005). Comparison between the differences of recreational cyclists in National scenic bikeway and local bike. Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, 6, 2178–2193.
Christopoulou, P., & Pitsiava-Latinopoulou, M. (2012). Development of a model for the estimation of pedestrian level of service in Greek urban areas. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 48, 1691–1701. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.1144.
Clasen, T., Boisson, S., Routray, P., Torondel, B., Bell, M., Cumming, O., et al. (2014). Effectiveness of a rural sanitation programme on diarrhoea, soil-transmitted helminth infection, and child malnutrition in Odisha, India: A cluster-randomised trial. The Lancet. Global Health, 2(11), e645–e653. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70307-9.
Coffey, D., Gupta, A., Hathi, P., Khurana, N., Spears, D., & Srivastav, N. (2014). Revealed preference for open defecation: Evidence from a new survey in rural north India (No. 1). Retrieved from www.squatreport.in
Correia, A. R., & Wirasinghe, S. C. (2005). Development of level of service standards for airport check-in facilities. Revista Transportes, 8(2), 5–20.
Daramola, O. (2017). Environmental sanitation implication of the disposal of the dead: A tale of two traditional African cities. Environment, Development and Sustainability.. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-017-0059-x.
Das, S., & Pandit, D. (2013). Importance of user perception in evaluating level of service for bus transit for a developing country like India: A review. Transport Reviews, 33(4), 402–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2013.789571.
Das, S., & Pandit, D. (2015). Determination of level-of-service scale values for quantitative bus transit service attributes based on user perception. Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, 11(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/23249935.2014.910563.
Das, S., & Pandit, D. (2016). Qualitative assessment of public facilities: The “ public bus”. The TQM Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-11-2014-0096.
Gupta, S., & Datta, R. (2012). Prioritizing service attributes for quality upgradation of Indian railway stations. The TQM Journal, 24(2), 167–180. https://doi.org/10.1108/17542731211215116.
Hu, K. (2010). Evaluating City bus service based on zone of tolerance of expectation and normalized importance. Transport Reviews, 30(2), 195–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441640902884780.
Jenkins, M. W., Freeman, M. C., & Routray, P. (2014). Measuring the safety of excreta disposal behavior in India with the new safe san index: Reliability, validity and utility. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11, 8319–8346. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110808319.
Khan, Z., Moselhi, O., & Zayed, T. (2009). Level of service based methodology for municipal infrastructure management. International Journal of Human and Social Science, 5(4), 96–105.
Koottatep, T., Chapagain, S. K., Polprasert, C., Panuvatvanich, A., & Ahn, K.-H. (2018). Sanitation situations in selected Southeast Asian countries and application of innovative technologies. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 20, 495–506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9892-6.
Kvarnström, E., McConville, J., Bracken, P., Johansson, M., & Fogde, M. (2011). The sanitation ladder—A need for a revamp? Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 1(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2011.014.
Lee, H., & Kim, C. (2014). Benchmarking of service quality with data envelopment analysis. Expert Systems with Applications, 41(8), 3761–3768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2013.12.008.
Li, Z., Cheng, K.-E., Wang, Y., & Hiltz, S. R. (2001). Thurstone’s law of comparative judgment for group support. In Americas Conference on Information Systems (pp. 241–244). Boston, MA, USA. Retrieved from https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2001/48
Makinde, O. O. (2017). Evaluating public housing quality in Ogun state, Nigeria. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 19, 1879–1909. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9832-5.
Mehta, M., Mehta, D., & Immanuel, A. (2011). Benchmarking in emerging economies: The performance assessment system (PAS) project in India. In Pi 2011 Conference (pp. 1–18). https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.1748.4166
Min, H., & Min, H. (2011). Benchmarking the service quality of fast-food restaurant franchises in the USA: A longitudinal study. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 18(2), 282–300. https://doi.org/10.1108/14635771111121711.
Moriarty, P., Batchelor, C., Fonseca, C., Klutse, A., Naafs, A., Nyarko, K., Snehalatha, M. (2011). Ladders for assessing and costing water service delivery (No. 2). Retrieved from https://fr.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Moriarty-2011-Ladders.pdf
Murta, J. C. D., Willetts, J. R. M., & Triwahyudi, W. (2018). Sanitation entrepreneurship in rural Indonesia: A closer look. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 20, 343–359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9883-7.
Nelson, K. B., Karver, J., Kullman, C., & Graham, J. P. (2014). User perceptions of shared sanitation among rural households in Indonesia and Bangladesh. PLoS ONE, 9(8), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103886.
Nkwocha, E. E., Pat-Mbano, E. C., & Okeoma, I. O. (2012). Sanitation indicators in the rural communities of the South-Eastern Nigeria : Additional evidence of policy failure in rural development. African Research Review, 6(1), 155–170.
O’Connell, K. (2014). What influences open defecation and latrine ownership in rural households?: Findings from a global review. Washington: World Bank.
Okurut, K., Kulabako, R. N., Chenoweth, J., & Charles, K. (2015). Assessing demand for improved sustainable sanitation in low-income informal settlements of urban areas: A critical review. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 25(1), 81–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2014.893570.
Pandit, D., & Das, S. (2013). A framework for determining commuter preference along a proposed bus rapid transit corridor. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 104, 894–903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.11.184.
Parida, P. N., & Parida, M. (2007). Development of qualitative evaluation methodology for sidewalks in Delhi. ITPI Journal, 4(3), 27–33.
Potter, A., Klutse, A., Snehalatha, M., Batchelor, C., Uandela, A., Naafs, A., Moriarty, P. (2010). Assessing sanitation service levels (No. 3). Retrieved from https://www.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/Potter-2011-Assessing.pdf
Rashid, M., & Pandit, D. (2019a). Determining the provision of wastewater management infrastructure in rural India from the local communities’ perspective. Water Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2019.074.
Rashid, M., & Pandit, D. (2018). Determination of appropriate service delivery level for quantitative attributes of household toilets in rural settlements of India from users’ perspective. Environmental Management, 61, 637–649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0987-0.
Rashid, M., & Pandit, D. (2019). Analysis of service quality of household toilets expected by households practicing open defecation: a study in rural settlements of Bihar, India. Environment, Development and Sustainability., 21(5), 2487–2506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-018-0145-8.
Rashid, M., & Pandit, D. (2017). Determination of appropriate service quality attributes for household toilets in rural settlements of India based on user perception. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 19(4), 1381–1406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9807-6.
Rashid, M., & Pandit, D. (2017). Service quality of household toilets in rural settlements of India: An assessment from users’ perspective. Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development. https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2017.054.
Reis, N., & Mollinga, P. P. (2012). Water supply or “ beautiful latrines ”? Microcredit for rural water supply and sanitation in the Mekong Delta Vietnam. ASEAS - Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies, 5(1), 10–29.
Roma, E., Philp, K., Buckley, C., Xulu, S., & Scott, D. (2013). User perceptions of urine diversion dehydration toilets : Experiences from a cross-sectional study in eThekwini Municipality. Water S A, 39(2), 305–312.
Seol, H., Choi, J., Park, G., & Park, Y. (2007). A framework for benchmarking service process using data envelopment analysis and decision tree. Expert Systems with Applications, 32(2), 432–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2005.12.012.
Sherman, H. D., & Zhu, J. (2006). Benchmarking with quality-adjusted DEA (Q-DEA) to seek lower-cost high-quality service: Evidence from a U.S. bank application. Annals of Operations Research, 145(1), 301–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-006-0037-4.
Snehalatha, M., Reddy, V. R., & Jayakumar, N. (2010). Assessing sanitation costs and services in Andhra Pradesh, India. In IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (Ed.), IRC Symposium: Pumps, Pipes and Promises.
Steinmann, P., Bratschi, M. W., Lele, P., Chavan, U., Sundaram, N., Weiss, M. G., et al. (2015). Availability and satisfactoriness of latrines and hand washing stations in health facilities, and role in health seeking behavior of women: evidence from rural Pune district, India. Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 5(3), 474–482. https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2015.101.
WHO, & UNICEF. (2008). Progress on drinking water and sanitation: Special focus on sanitation. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2008/en/
WHO, & UNICEF. (2017). Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG baselines.Retrieved fromhttps://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/launch-version-report-jmp-water-sanitation-hygiene.pdf
Xionghong, Z., Zirui, S., & Xue, L. (2013). Factor analysis of satisfactory degree on improvement of Rural Latrines in Shanxi Province—A perspective of social gender. Chinese Studies, 2(2), 92–95. https://doi.org/10.4236/chnstd.2013.22014.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rashid, M., Pandit, D. An assessment of service level of household toilet attributes based on the users’ satisfaction in rural Bihar, India. Environ Dev Sustain 23, 7373–7392 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00921-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00921-9