A percepção dos usuários urbanos de Sousa - PB quanto à prestação de serviços de abastecimento de água para consumo humano.

Abstract

In the municipality of Sousa, Paraíba, Brazil, in addition to water scarcity, the municipality has the peculiarity of having a municipal autarchy managing water, sewage and sanitation services. The need for efficient and effective management in services motivated and guided this research, which aimed to understand the perception of urban users in the municipality of Sousa-PB regarding the provision of water supply services for human consumption. Through a survey, carried out by applying a collection instrument, in the form of a questionnaire, structured with twenty-eight questions and with staggered alternatives, and elaborated from the ten dimensions of the services in accordance with research by Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry (2014), two neighborhoods were chosen based on geographic location, one in the center of the city and another in the periphery - two hundred users of water services were surveyed. The data were presented in tables and, for the purposes of analysis, quantitative processes were adopted to generate the percentages that allowed the qualitative discussion of the research. The results suggest differences in perceptions in relation to the same services evaluated by respondents in the surveyed neighborhoods, which have different socioeconomic realities. The research concluded that DAESA has much better in relation to its service provision, and should be concerned with water supply users so that the expectations of these users are not frustrated and due to the duty to provide public services efficiently.