Demanda de água urbana no setor comercial da microrregião de Araripina/PE.

Abstract

In the last decades, special attention to water resources has been highlighted as a necessity, not only due to the increase in demands, but also due to the negative impacts of the misuse of natural resources. On a particular scale, in the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil, the integration of irregular rains in time and space, high evaporation values and few surface and underground reserves in quality and quantity, makes management complex. In view of the multiple uses of water resources, the analysis of demands represents one of the fundamental topics in studies related to water management. In the economic context, in a relationship between supply and demand, the higher the value, the consumer usually reduces the demand. The present work is about the demand analysis for urban commercial user in municipalities in the Araripina microregion, located in the semi-arid region of the state of Pernambuco/Brazil, through the elasticity-price parameter of demand, indicating the user's sensitivity regarding demand reduction, in: inelastic, unitary and elastic. The quantitative domain of the consecutive monthly data records was identified in the main municipalities of the state's Plasterer Pole, especially in Araripina. Among the calculation conditions, on average, perfectly inelastic and elastic situations were the most expressive. The results are expected to support demand studies in the semiarid region in the commercial user sector, considering that the analysis of consumption sensitivity in the face of price increases is a primary step in proposing economic models for charging for water use.