Clear waters, bright futures: do low-cost information interventions increase health preventive behaviors

Contaminated drinking water poses a significant, long-term health challenge in developing countries. With the aim of shedding light on the most effective presentation of this information in awareness campaigns, we run a randomized control trial involving 1,388 households in Punjab, Pakistan. We provide information about fecal matter (E.Coli) presence in drinking water and on ways to treat water to make it potable. This intervention increases the likelihood of adopting in-home water purification for those households who were provided with information about water contamination results. Those informed of both water contamination and potential water treatment methods exhibit an even higher likelihood of behavior change. This study is evidence of the potential efficacy of low-cost information-based interventions, offering valuable insights for health policy in resource-constrained settings.