Download 260-0-0-0-0-CervantesJohanna_Science in Public Conference

Analysis of water consumption practices in two universities in
the city of Bogotá
Johanna Alexandra Cervantes Garcia
Master's Degree in Social Studies in Science, Technology and Medicine
National University of Colombia
Considered the most important liquid for human life, water flows through the lives of people
imperceptibly. We use countless liters of water for different activities and in different spaces (personal
cleaning, cleaning of the home, hydration in the gym, etc.). We are surrounded by water and we
interact with it daily; sometimes it is often covered by materialities and technologies and other times
it is presented as a fact such as in the case of rain. Therefore, water seems not to be a matter of major
concern in everyday life. However, water becomes important in two scenarios. The first is in times
of scarcity, a problem that refers to the quantity, for example, at the national level in municipalities
that do not have a municipal aqueduct, have an intermittent service of water or, in the worst of
scenarios, do not have the service. The second, and in my opinion most interesting, is in times of
contamination, a problem that refers to quality and occurs when there is presence of water but the
purity or quality of the liquid are called into question, this means that the liquid is "impure" because
“alien substances” affect it.
Water is an exceptional field for the analysis of the complex relationships that are woven between
science, technology and society. This non-human actor flows through the lives of people and is
commonly considered "mundane" or "irrelevant" is traversed by complex interrelations between, for
example, 1) state institutions seeking to promote public consumption, 2) private companies promoting
bottled water, 3) citizens with perceptions, attitudes and responses about water quality, and 4)
researchers interested in the study of water. The research takes as conceptual framework different
perspectives of the STS. In the first place, the contributions of the Post- Actor Network Theory
proposed by Annemarie Mol that emphasize in the ontologies, the practices and the technologies in
the configuration of multiple realities. Second, the contributions on the materiality and technology of
water proposed by Karen Bakker, Gay Hawkins and Kane Race that draws attention to the central
role of water in human interactions. Third, the contributions from Cultural Studies, which have
deepened the study of consumption practices, especially bottled water.
1
Ensuring the quality of water in cities has become one of the main tasks of local governments around
the world. The city of Bogotá has guaranteed access to drinking water since 2007 with the
implementation of the System of protection, control and monitoring of water quality that mobilize a
series of institutions, actors and standards that monitor the quality of water in the city. However,
access to quality water does not necessarily represent the direct consumption of water (commonly
referred to as drinking tap water) by citizens. Thus, drinking water in daily life mediates a series of
practices, technologies and discourses that do not necessarily relate to the purity of water, but also
with notions about the body, health, illness, confidence, environment or risk. This research analyzes
the materiality of water through drinking water consumption practices in two universities in the city
of Bogotá.
Advances of the research shows how science and technology are the mediators of the quality in the
multiple practices of drinking water consumption. However, the question is not always formulated in
terms of quality. Therefore, consumption practices cannot be studies as the response to government
inefficiency over access to quality public water versus the effectiveness of private bottled water
markets. Since in the middle public/private tension are different ways to define the purity of water
and different practices to guarantee its potability.
Key words: water, drinking water, consumption practices, public, science
2