Water provision models for rural communities in Brazil: a comparative assessment through Analytic Hierarchy Process

Abstract

Rural sanitation has not been prioritized by Brazilian public policies, which has led to a deficit in sanitation services for rural populations, violations of human rights, and health risks. Due to the characteristics and needs of rural populations in Brazil, this study aimed to evaluate different models of water supply services. The degree of suitability of the models was achieved using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method, based on the Grounded Theory qualitative research method. The models of water supply services used in the comparative analysis were: municipal management, state company, private companies, public consortia, shared management, and social organization. The results showed that the most appropriate models for rural contexts were municipal management and shared management, while the model based on private companies was the least adequate one. This suggests little adherence of models based on a mercantilist logic to rural communities.