CONDITIONS INVOLVED IN DIFFERENT MODELS OF WATER SUPPLY SERVICES IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The purpose of this studyis to understand the reasons why cities choose a certain management model for water supply services in Brazil. In order to achieve such purpose, the researchers used microdata from the 2008 National Survey of Basic Sanitation conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The results were assessed by means of non-parametric statistic methods of analysis of variance and multiple comparisons, characterized by different indicators of each urban area studied. It was shown that the administrative nature of the service provider varies among Brazilian macroregions and that, statistically, the size of the population, the total number of areas assisted and the non-payment rates in the last 12 months are significantly different. In that sense, it was observed that Autarchies, Public Corporations and Government Controlled Companies operate in the most populated cities with the most areas assisted. On the other hand, Private Companies and PublicConsortium, Foundation and Association had the lowest non-payment rate. It was further observed that the kind of service provision model for water supply in Brazil is related to different implementation of public policies by the governors and to the way the population responds differently to sanitation problems due to regional, social-economical, demographic, cultural and historical divergences in Brazil.

Keywords: Public policies; sanitation; management of water supply services.