O papel do sujeito em relação à água de consumo humano: um estudo na cidade de Vitória - ES

Abstract

The guarantee of the quality of the drinking water is regulated by legislation, but the people have an important role in the household water management. The aim of this research was to investigate personal aspects of four groups of subjects, inhabitants of the districts of MangueSeco, Ilha das Caieiras, Santa Teresa and Jardim Camburi, in the city of Vitória-ES, Brazil, and their relationship with the drinking water. In this sense, this research also analysed the implications of the drinking water in the health. For the research development, a qualitative approach was carried on, using the strategy of the Discourse of the Collective Subject, and anchored in the documentary research on the results divulged by health programs. The results mainly point to: the lack of reliance in the quality of the received water, associated to the presence of taste, color or solid material in suspension, which, in some situations, can offerrisk to the health or lead to unnecessary expenses with the acquisition of bottled waters; inequality in distribution terms and lack of water supply and of sanitation services, of which the subjects are aware conscientious, although not to claim such services; unawareness of thehygiene procedures of maintenance of the domestic water filter and drinking water reservoir. The people under research express clearly to have conscience of the importance of hygiene, however they do not hold the correct knowledge of the necessary procedures about how toaccomplish that. These results draw attention to the necessity of the public agencies of health and the sanitation companies investing in the spreading of information that promote the confidence of the subject in the consumption of the water supply system. The results also highlight the necessity of rethinking the ways of providing information to the population,which, the way they have been, do not facilitate the exercise of citizenship.