Marshall Isld. Water Project Survey 2009

Under the EU Envelope B project a total of 350 1,500 gallon water catchment units would be made available for Majuro and 150 1,500 gallon units for Ebeye. It was understood at the beginning of the project that the need for water catchments in the urban areas would far out strip the units being brought on island. The need for some type of survey or assessment to better understand conditions on the ground was quickly apparent. As the survey went forward a major definition was agreed to as what defined not having a water catchment. Households with less than 350 gallons of household water storage were classified as not having a water catchment. Typically the smallest catchments that can be purchased in retail stores are about 400 gallons. In addition using accepted international definitions for improved water storage, the blue plastic water barrels many people use for water collection are not classified as proper or improved household water catchments. This is due to their small individual size, approximately 35 gallons.

A survey was developed using questions from standard household surveys and some additional questions were inserted after consultation and review by other interested government agencies and NGOs. The survey content covered basic demographics questions, household characteristics and questions on water storage, source and availability.

During the course of the survey operations, it was soon recognized how much more was needed to conduct this project in the field over earlier sample surveys conducted by EPPSO. Much of the problem was the reliance on older 1999 Census information on the total number of households on Majuro. EPPSO had been looking at approximately 3,200 households total, not 4,300. The survey operation, as a result was much more extensive and expensive than anticipated and consequently significantly short of the budget required for house to house work. EPPSO was able to work with the EU/SOPAC project management and the World Bank/OECD to increase survey budgets, as an additional $20,000 was provided by the World Bank/OECD. In addition there were technical assistance training inputs from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) on data processing and SOPAC for GIS mapping.

Version 1.0 - edited data not anonymized; basis for published reports

Demographics: Respondent characteristics; number of hh members by age range; number of income earners; total annual income
Household: household characteristics; water storage, availability and source; sanitation practices;

* Collection start: 2009
* Collection end: 2009