Water Contamination, Households’ Risk Perceptions, and Averting Behavior: Evidence from the Nullah Lai, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

This study examined the households’ risk perceptions of water contamination available in the surroundings of the Lai sewer in Rawalpindi city of Pakistan. Through purposefully structured questionnaire, 134 households were interviewed from three randomly selected areas adjacent to the main sewer bed of the Lai sewer. The data were collected from both the ethnography of three neighborhoods named Mohinpura, Dhok Ratta, and Dhok Naju adjacent to the Lai sewer and questionnaire survey to assess the households’ perceptions of groundwater and supplied water contamination as principal sources of drinking water. Supplementing ethnographic research, the data collected through the questionnaire was analyzed using the ordered probit model. The findings showed that households’ education level, income, health effects, proximity to the Lai sewer, knowledge, and awareness of water contamination, and attitude toward health risks had significant effects on households’ risk perceptions. This study will be an important addition to the existing water pollution–related research and will particularly help to sensitize the households and communities about water contamination and health-related risks. The recommendations of the study will further guide the relevant state institutions based on the perspectives of the research participants and neighboring residents of the Lai sewer of Rawalpindi city.