Assessing Consumers Satisfaction For Sustainable Drinking Water Resource Management. Indications From Populated Industrial City Faisalabad, Pakistan

Abstract

An advanced water supply system is always required to meet the consumers demands in semi-arid urban areas for a sustainable urban growth. Current research conducted to explores the multiple dimensions of consumer satisfaction with the various available drinking water sources in Faisalabad, a semi-arid city in Pakistan. The study intends to investigate the indicators that influence the consumers perceptions for the available water sources and their overall satisfaction levels towards water service in city. Through a comprehensive analysis of water quality, affordability, accessibility, and reliability, the research aims to provide insights into the factors shaping consumer preferences and contentment regarding drinking water. The data collected through extensive consumer-based questionnaire and evaluated using SPSS. PLS-SEM model applied to investigate linkage between available water sources and consumer satisfaction and influence of different factors. The verdicts of recent study have insinuations for legislators and relevant water management authorities, offering valuable information to improve the quality and convenience of drinkable water resource in Faisalabad and similar urban structures. Water Consumption (WC) also shows substantial internal consistency with values for Cronbach's alpha, rho-A, and CR at 0.936. The loadings for this construct range from 1.585 for WC7 to 4.476 for WC6, suggesting varying degrees of factor loadings associated with different aspects of water consumption. The AVE for WC is 0.278, again below the desired threshold, which might suggest that the items may not be adequately capturing the construct of water consumption.

User Adoption (UA) shows loadings from 1.118 for both UA4 and UA5 to 4.734 for UA1, with a reliability and validity assessment yielding Cronbach's alpha, rho-A, and CR all at 0.915, and an AVE of 0.376. This indicates good internal consistency though the average variance extracted is slightly low, which could affect the construct's ability to fully represent the variance in user adoption measurements. The study highlights that water quality along with other social aspects are significant factors in influencing consumer satisfaction. Policymakers should enforce stringent water quality standards and regular monitoring to ensure the safety and suitability of drinking water