Reconceptualising the drinking waterscape through a grounded perspective
Résumé
While water networks were built at the same time as modern cities to avoid epidemics, today urban water studies seldom take into account the criterion of quality, which, however, remains essential in characterising drinking waterscapes. Papers defining drinking waterscapes focus on the importance of certain factors – topography, socio-economic levels, cultural or political aspects, among others – to explain how water access affects the urban fabric, especially in urban peripheries. A new conceptualisation of what a drinking waterscape is, must take into account consumers' confidence in a healthy water supply. This is what this paper seeks to highlight. Drawing on personal fieldwork in Sudan and Argentina, and a review of the literature, this paper provides testimonies of the representations that water users construct of drinking water quality in their everyday practices. Considering three of the fields of enquiry used to evaluate access to water in the literature – cultural habits, daily practices, and politics – this paper highlights the crucial part played by the confidence people have in water quality in affecting the everyday drinking waterscape. The paper proposes a new conceptualisation of the drinking waterscape, with a major consideration of views on water quality in its definition, and an argument for a stronger interdisciplinary approach in water studies.