DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, ss.369-374, 2017 (SCI-Expanded)
Access to clean potable water is a global issue while it is also one of the articles of human rights. The demand for water increases as the population rises and economic activities grow. However, the water pollution and declination in water levels in the dams due to global warming as well as the low quality of potable water brings up the issue of running water sufficiency and safety. This study measures consumer satisfaction level and expectations on potable city water quality and services based on the cross-sectional data collected from urban settings in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The results suggest that 71.4% of households use city water as their potable water and define the quality of potable city water as average quality. While the survey findings indicate that the colour and turbidity qualities of accessed water were ranked quite high, conductivity, taste and odour of the water have received lower rankings of satisfaction within a five Likert-scale. Additionally, lack of pre-information on water cuts, insufficient maintenance and repair services and unsatisfactory responses to the consumer complaints were listed as the main problems encountered in city water services. Besides, quality improvement of potable water, water pricing and safety issues were found as the most important items.