Water scarcity has gained increasing awareness globally, and the small island developing states of the Caribbean, including Barbados, are not exempt from this global crisis. There is a large amount of variation to be found between Barbados' 11 parishes demographically, economically, and socially, with tourism encapsulating an especially significant sector for both the economy and water use, emphasized in certain parishes most prevalently. / Surveys were carried out in four coastal parishes and respondents were asked various water-related questions for their household. The survey addressed a myriad of issues such as water availability, quality, categorizing responsibilities of water-related tasks, as well as a number of other topics. The number of surveys conducted was equivalent to one per cent of each parish population. The chi-square test for the analysis of a two-way contingency table was conducted to determine the influence of development and gender on parish households in differential water use, access, and perceptions of water. Surveys were completed to provide clarity to the objectives of the research which were twofold: to determine whether the amount of economic, social, and physical development of a parish influences the access and distribution of domestic water to households; and to uncover gender perceptions related to water use and determine how water use patterns and water consumption vary between genders in households. / Parish development was a much stronger indicator for water usage and distribution rather than gender. All questions compared across parishes yielded at least one statistically significant response with the exception of determining whether water shortages affected lifestyles. Parish water use was highest in St. Philip (898.1 L/week/capita) and lowest in St. Lucy, (729.9 L/week/capita). The gender analysis provided statistically insignificant results except for the total respondents' water quality, and a household's satisfaction with their water situation, which were only significant for the total population and St. Lucy categories. Regarding division of labour within households, women still occupy the majority of tasks relating to water by spending on average 12.6 hrs/week on water-related domestic tasks; while males and children spend almost 5.6 hrs/week and 1.70 hrs/week respectively.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.116060 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Suchorski, Alicia. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Bioresource Engineering.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 003133880, proquestno: AAIMR66999, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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