No one is forcing anyone to use this water. The villagers can either use the cleaner water, something which they had no way to get before, or continue to get water their old way. How is it a bad thing to provide a better product to someone for a price?
Sure, everyone needs water. But, "there's no such thing as a free lunch", and this seems to be a reasonable way to get water to people who need it right now.
update, when I had a chance to look at some data:
As for affordability, it seems 5% of monthly income is typically used as the threshold [1]. This would mean that someone would have to earn $2 dollars per day to have affordable water through this solution. You're right: for many below the poverty line in India, this does not meet the affordability standard [2].
However, I would argue that any way of increasing access is an improvement, simply judging by how available water currently is [3]. As was said earlier, you're not making people any poorer by giving them another option to attain water.
But when you make the most profitable way the preferred way, you shift the power from the people to a controlling party, at which point, the price goes up to suit the "investors".
Small semantic note: isn't this really a type of "vending machine", rather than an "automated teller"? Seems it's really a drink dispenser, and not a money dispenser. The idea just doesn't seem very revolutionary, and is maybe reaching for a "high-tech" metaphor to gain some tech-cred.
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 20.8 ms ] threada) $3 per month for a family in India is quite expensive.
b) It adds artificial scarcity and dependency on the "water dealers".
Sounds like Rango to me.
update, when I had a chance to look at some data: As for affordability, it seems 5% of monthly income is typically used as the threshold [1]. This would mean that someone would have to earn $2 dollars per day to have affordable water through this solution. You're right: for many below the poverty line in India, this does not meet the affordability standard [2].
However, I would argue that any way of increasing access is an improvement, simply judging by how available water currently is [3]. As was said earlier, you're not making people any poorer by giving them another option to attain water.
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_... [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India [3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_...
It's an unfortunate part of human nature.
It's disgusting.