BetaBetaDataset
To determine the most cost-effective approach for microbial water quality testing in rural Africa by comparing the costs associated with different levels of centralization in water quality monitoring.
The study focuses on the costs associated with monitoring drinking water quality and aims to inform decisions on how water quality surveillance systems can be designed to maximize efficiency and sustainability. The research was conducted using case studies from Ghana and Uganda and broader simulations representing rural African contexts.
The study compares the cost per E. coli test (using membrane filtration) across four different water quality monitoring approaches: (i) one centralized laboratory, (ii) a mobile laboratory, (iii) multiple semi-centralized laboratories, and (iv) decentralized analysis at each system. Access the supplementary material (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c01916), which provides data on the cost-modeling parameters, simulation datasets, and sensitivity analyses used to compare the economic viability of four water testing frameworks: Centralized, Mobile lab, Semi-centralized, and Decentralized.
Monte Carlo analyses were employed to model and compare the costs of these approaches in real-world contexts in Ghana and Uganda, as well as in hypothetical scenarios across rural Africa. The study evaluated the financial implications of each approach under various conditions.