La calidad de servicio de agua potable y su incidencia en la satisfacción de los usuarios de la Parroquia Crucita, 2024.

Abstract

Access to quality drinking water is a fundamental human right and a key indicator of sustainable development. This research determines how service quality influences citizens' perceptions, identifying critical areas and opportunities for improvement to strengthen water management in the region. A quantitative approach was applied, with a non-experimental and cross-sectional design. The population included 16,997 inhabitants, from which 376 users were selected by simple random sampling. A survey based on the SERVQUAL model was used, evaluating dimensions such as reliability, responsiveness, safety and tangible elements, together with overall user satisfaction. The consistency of the instrument was validated by means of Cronbach's Alpha coefficient, obtaining a value of 0.950. The results indicate that the general perception of the quality of drinking water service is mostly neutral (52.1%), with 15.7% of users dissatisfied and only 32.1% satisfied. The most critical dimensions were service safety (49.7% dissatisfied) and tangible elements (40.2% dissatisfied). Reliability, responsiveness had neutral perceptions, which points to opportunities to optimize these aspects. Overall satisfaction was also predominantly neutral (55.1%), with only 19.9% of users somewhat satisfied and 5.6% very satisfied. In conclusion, the drinking water service in Crucita meets the basics, but fails to exceed user expectations, reflecting a point of stagnation. Priority areas for improvement include the safety of the water supplied, infrastructure modernization, and personalized attention.