Water supply and sewage services regulation indicators in poverty areas: Structure and application process in Cubatão-Sp, Brazil

Abstract

The sanitation regulatory milestone in Brazil was established in 2007; regulatory agencies are responsible for assuring that service providers work in compliance with sanitation plans. The Water Supply and Sanitation Services (WS & SS) provided to subnormal clusters present peculiar features that require regulatory agencies to have appropriate tools to perform such monitoring. The aim of the current article is to build and present a system of indicators used for this purpose. A combination of traditional and participatory approaches was used to collect the indicators. Eleven indicators were proposed in the participatory approach and twelve were inserted in the traditional approach. These indicators were assessed by experts and applied to Cubatão County. Thus, a system comprising twenty-three indicators is herein presented to help monitoring the contractual and planning goals of WS & SS provided to subnormal clusters. The model is innovative and can be used in Incentive-based or in Sunshine regulations.