Quantifying the Economic Spillover Effect for Citywide Fecal Sludge Management Programs

Abstract

The economic spillover effect relates to ancillary benefits from development projects beyond their intrinsic values. For citywide fecal sludge management (FSM) projects, such benefits could be increased property values and tax revenues as the environmental health of the city improves over time. Other potential ancillary benefits include (i) increased tourism as the water quality of bays, beaches, and rivers improves; (ii) livelihood opportunities as pollution is reduced in fisheries; (iii) health improvements and increased worker productivity; and (iv) overall economic development. To illustrate these spillover effects, this study looks at two projects in the Philippines: the Dumaguete City FSM program, on the island of Negros in central Philippines, and the Veterans Water Reclamation Facility (known as Project 7), a co-treatment program in Manila in the National Capital Region.