Cisternas domiciliares: quantidade e qualidade das águas para consumo humano.

Abstract

Water availability in the rural communities of the Brazilian semi-arid is not yet occurring in a sustainable way, although over 110 thousand cisterns are installed and functioning. Thereafter, aspects related to water quantity, quality and management become very important. So, 225 cisterns in four municipalities were evaluated regarding water guarantee and quality. The results showed that before the cisterns, the rural families used to walk, on the average, two hours a day to get water and that the water volume of the cisterns (16.0m3) is sufficient to meet the basic needs of the families with up to five persons. Also, in the municipalities of Petrolina-PE and Ouricuri-PE, respectively 90% and 63% of the families declared to use chloride for water treatment, but the majority of the waters are out of the potability standards for human consumption. The results indicate the need of treating drinking water adequately, what can be accomplished through training the acting agents and the beneficiary families in the communities.