EVALUATION OF WATER POLLUTION AND ITS GENERATING SOURCES, THROUGH THE WATER QUALITY INDEX (WQI) IN URBANIZED SECTIONS OF THE CAPIBARIBE RIVER
Water Monitoring; Surface Waters; Water management; water contamination.
Surface waters are fundamental both for the environmental balance and for meeting the demands of human consumption. Monitoring water quality is an important hydroenvironmental management tool. According to the National Water Agency, through the Water Quality Portal, of the 27 Brazilian states, only 10 monitor the quality of their waters, among the difficulties for this monitoring are the high costs of the logistics involved and the lack of trained personnel for the task. , which results in true gaps in the monitoring data. In this context, the present work evaluated the water quality in some stretches of the Capibaribe River, through the Water Quality Index (IQA) and the Trophic State Index (TSI), characterizing its waters with physical-chemical and microbiological indicators which indicate the deterioration of water quality in all monitored locations.Water samples were collected in the municipalities of Paudalho and São Lourenço da Mata monthly between June 2021 and April 2022. In the analysis of results, descriptive and multivariate statistics were used. The characterization by the TSI indicated that the water has a great trophic potential being classified as hypereutrophic, while the WQI varied between fair, bad and very bad. In addition to the nine parameters provided for in the IQA, the metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) were also analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, showing in some moments values above the acceptable by CONAMA Resolution nº 357/2005. The results of this study showed through the analyzed parameters that it was possible to observe significant changes in the water quality of the Capibaribe River in the study stretch, indicating that it was strongly affected by the types of land use and occupation.