CONTINGENT VALUATION: AN ALTERNATIVE TO ESTIMATE THE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PROJECTS IN RURAL AREAS OF TROPICAL COUNTRIES

The contingent valuation methodology was applied to a rural community called Ceylan on the southwest of Colombia. The methodology permitted to know that users were willing to pay up to 1.0 U.S dollar per month for the O&M of the wastewater treatment plant in order to have a cleaner water stream. Moreover, they were willing to pay an additional fee in order to have access to leisure activities such as fishing in a stabilisation pond. Hence, the study yielded valuable information not only on the financial side but also on the whole process of wastewater treatment technology choice on the grounds of people's preferences expressed those as their affordability and willingness to pay for such goods. The CV methodology has proved to be successful as the wastewater treatment plant is already operating and a community based enterprise is responsible for its administration, which guarantees its sustainability in the long term.