Satisfaction of drinking water needs in villages of Stara Zagora municipality

Abstract

Supplying sufficient quantities of safe drinking water to citizens is one of the most important tasks of each country. According to national reports drinking water supplied to Bulgarian villages is not sufficiently controlled. PURPOSE: To determine whether the village residents of Stara Zagora municipality are satisfied with the quantity and quality of the supplied drinking water. METHODS: Households in 46 villages were interviewed for the study. RESULTS: The survey revealed that 87% of respondents believed they're getting enough water, but 63% were not satisfied with its quality. For 74% of the respondents water consumption corresponded to the national average (2-4 m 3 per person per month). The main complaints concerning water quality were of unpleasant taste, smell of chlorine and high hardness. Due to the poor quality of drinking water 80% of respondents reported that they occasionally had to buy bottled water. A worrying fact was that 41% used tap water for watering their garden, thus wasting drinking water resources. CONCLUSIONS: The village residents in Stara Zagora municipality are partly satisfied with the quality of drinking water. It is necessary, however, to take significant measures to strengthen the quality control performed by water supply companies and supervisory authorities, especially in view of the increased cases of heavy rains and floods in the recent months.

Journal of Water and Land Development

“…This leaves villagers frustrated. SANDEVA et al [2015] contend that the cause of delay to address these problems is a sign of poor leadership and the VDM's lack of institutional capacity to deal with them. On the other hand, JAYARAMU [2014] claims that the regular update on water services and, timely and accurate responses to enquiries leave rural people satisfied, despite challenges.…”