Water, Health and Environmental Sustainability in the Brazilian Semi-arid Region

Chã da Pia (Areia/PB) is a community located in the north-east of Brazil, in the state of Paraíba, and stands out for its ceramics production. The research was carried out during a period of prolonged drought. The aim was to study the origin and management of the multiple waters destined for multiple uses in this community, to analyse the users’ perception of the quality of these waters and their association with health risks and the impacts of the exploitative uses of water, soil and vegetation in the collection of materials for the manufacture of clay pieces. The water present in the community is distributed by water tankers, which have different origins and qualities (drinking water from the water tanker operation; treated water or water from reservoirs supplied by town halls and water of unknown origin distributed by private ’pipeiros’). The extraction of clay ’the clay of crockery’ and the cutting down of plants to produce firewood to burn the clay pieces have a strong environmental impact (soil and vegetation). The multiple waters can be sourced from even more diverse sources and better utilised with alternative technologies that do not exist in this community, such as cisterns and underground dams, facilitating multiple uses during droughts.