Índice de segurança do abastecimento de água para comunidades rurais

Abstract

Rural areas receive less investment in sanitation than urban areas, and there is also a lack of monitoring, maintenance, training, and management in these regions. The ability to summarize indexes facilitates communication among users and is therefore an important tool in planning, management, and decision-making processes. This study developed the Rural Water Supply Security Index (ISAAR) with the help of a literature review and consultation with experts in the field using the Delphi method. The objective of ISAAR is to assist managers and decision-makers in assessing water security in rural areas, considering dimensions that include the watershed, health, sewage, solid waste, water quality, frequency of water supply, and management. ISAAR was applied to rural communities in Espírito Santo, Piauí, and Ceará, in addition to simulations of hypothetical scenarios to verify the behavior of the index. The results reflected the reality of the communities analyzed, and the simulations allowed us to verify that the dimensions and their weights were adequate in the index. ISAAR can be used as a tool to assess the safety of treated water in rural communities and also to demonstrate and synthesize assessments to identify factors that have potential for improvement considering the seven dimensions that comprise it.