POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS PARA O TRATAMENTO DA ÁGUA

It is known that the right to drinking water and sanitation is an essential human right for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights. This calls upon States and international organizations to provide financial resources and support capacity building and technology transfer through international assistance and cooperation, particularly to developing countries, in order to intensify efforts to provide the population with affordable access to drinking water and sanitation (UN, 2021). Therefore, the guiding question was: how can public policies contribute to improving public water treatment services for citizens? Thus, the overall objective of this research was to study public policies on drinking water treatment. The specific objectives were: to show that water treatment is a citizen's right and a public manager's duty; to analyze the consequences of treated water on people's lives; and to understand the contributions of public policies in guaranteeing treated water for the population. The methodology used was a literature review with a qualitative method, based on authors who describe the topic. The data for analysis was sourced from articles, theses, and monographs that addressed the proposed topic. These authors provided the theoretical foundation, including works published from 2021 onwards. Data processing involved three stages: pre-analysis, material exploration, and finally, data processing with inference and interpretation. Given the challenges presented, the importance of this research for a critical reflection on the actions of public authorities to guarantee the fundamental right to treated water as an indispensable good for life on Planet Earth becomes clear.