Effectiveness of the empirical fruition of the right to water in urban contexts: an analysis of disparities among Brazilian subnational states, from 2013 to 2020

Formal recognition of the right to water does not necessarily translate into practical implementation. Objective: to establish and measure the practical implementation of the right to water through observable and measurable variables to identify significant gaps or obstacles in its implementation in Brazilian Federative Units between 2013 and 2020. Method: based on efforts to quantify the implementation of the right to water through the development of indicators, the paper employs the methodology of Positional Analysis, within the theoretical framework of Legal Analysis of Economic Policy (LAEP), to investigate to what extent the right to water is fulfilled in Brazilian Federative Units, in urban contexts, and to identify the factors that contribute to its implementation, or lack thereof, in practice. Results and contributions: (i) despite improvements in urban water supply coverage, water became, on average, more turbid, less financially affordable, and with more residual chlorine over time in Brazil; (ii) higher levels of fruition are found in the Southeast, and lower, in the Northeast; and (iii) performance indexes are mainly correlated to the control of turbidity, of the presence of total coliforms, and to the expansion of urban water supply infrastructure.