scholarly journals Water Quality of groundwater used for public supply in principal aquifers of the western United States

Author(s):  
Celia Z. Rosecrans ◽  
MaryLynn Musgrove
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-453
Author(s):  
Elna Lucilia Santos Corrêa ◽  
Karina Suzana Feitosa Pinheiro ◽  
Cláudio José Da Silva de Sousa ◽  
Luiz Jorge Bezerra da Silva Dias

O Brasil apresenta grande disponibilidade de água doce em seus mananciais. Fazendo parte desse recurso encontra-se, o rio Paciência, localizado na Ilha do Maranhão destacado pela sua importância local, principalmente por contribuir com suas águas para recarga dos mananciais subterrâneos, fonte de abastecimento público de vários bairros de São Luís, capital do estado. No entanto, este rio vem sofrendo comprometimento da qualidade de suas águas, consequência do processo de uso e ocupação dos espaços em sua bacia. Destacando-se como um dos principais problemas relacionados a qualidade de ambientes fluviais,  a eutrofização, que consiste no processo em que o corpo d’água adquire elevados níveis de nutrientes (fosfatos e nitratos), é um indicador determinante da qualidade da água. Neste sentido, o objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar a qualidade da água e do estado trófico na bacia hidrográfica do rio Paciência atráves dos parâmetros fisico-químico evidenciando os trechos mais comprometidos conforme os valores alcançados nas análises. Os resultados das análises foram comparados com a CONAMA No. 357/05 que indicaram uma situação preocupante quanto à qualidade da água no local de estudo.Palavras-chave: Qualidade de água; Eutrofização; Ilha do Maranhão. ABSTRACTThe Brazil has great availability of fresh water in its springs. Within these contexts, the Paciência River, located on the Island of Maranhão stands out for its local importance, mainly for contributing its waters to the recharge of the underground springs, source of public supply of several districts of São Luís, capital of the state. However, this river has been compromising the quality of its waters, a consequence of the process of use and occupation of the spaces in its basin. Highlighting as one of the main problems related to the quality of fluvial environments, eutrophication, which consists of the process in which the body of water acquires high levels of nutrients (phosphates and nitrates), is a determinant indicator of water quality. In this sense, the objective of this work was to characterize the water quality and trophic status in the Paciência river basin through the physico-chemical parameters, showing the most compromised stretches according to the values reached in the analyzes. The results of the analyzes were compared with CONAMA No. 357/05 which indicated a worrying situation regarding the quality of the water at the place of study.Keywords: Water quality; Eutrophication; Island of Maranhão. RESUMENBrasil tiene gran disponibilidad de agua dulce en sus manantiales. Parte de este recurso es el río Paciencia, ubicado en la isla de Maranhão, que destaca por su importancia local, principalmente porque contribuye con sus aguas a recargar las fuentes subterráneas, fuente de suministro público de varios barrios de São Luís, capital del estado. Sin embargo, este río se ha visto afectado por la calidad de sus aguas, como consecuencia del proceso de uso y ocupación de los espacios en su cuenca. Destacando como uno de los principales problemas relacionados con la calidad de los ambientes fluviales, la eutrofización, que consiste en el proceso en el que el cuerpo de agua adquiere altos niveles de nutrientes (fosfatos y nitratos), es un indicador determinante de la calidad del agua. En este sentido, el objetivo de este trabajo fue caracterizar la calidad del agua y el estado trófico en la cuenca del río Paciência a través de los parámetros fisicoquímicos, mostrando las secciones más comprometidas de acuerdo con los valores alcanzados en los análisis. Los resultados de los análisis se compararon con CONAMA N°. 357/05, que indicó una situación preocupante con respecto a la calidad del agua en el sitio de estudio.Palabras clave: Calidad del agua; Eutrofización, Isla Maranhão.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley J. Rust ◽  
Terri S. Hogue ◽  
Samuel Saxe ◽  
John McCray

Wildfires are increasing in size and severity in forested landscapes across the Western United States. Not only do fires alter land surfaces, but they also affect the surface water quality in downstream systems. Previous studies of individual fires have observed an increase in various forms of nutrients, ions, sediments and metals in stream water for different post-fire time periods. In this research, data were compiled for over 24 000 fires across the western United States to evaluate post-fire water-quality response. The database included millions of water-quality data points downstream of these fires, and was synthesised along with geophysical data from each burned watershed. Data from 159 fires in 153 burned watersheds were used to identify common water-quality response during the first 5 years after a fire. Within this large dataset, a subset of seven fires was examined further to identify trends in water-quality response. Change-point analysis was used to identify moments in the post-fire water-quality data where significant shifts in analyte concentrations occurred. Evaluating individual fires revealed strong initial increases or decreases in concentrations, depending on the analyte, that are masked when averaged over 5 years. Evidence from this analysis shows significant increases in nutrient flux (different forms of nitrogen and phosphorus), major-ion flux and metal concentrations are the most common changes in stream water quality within the first 5 years after fire. Dissolved constituents of ions and metals tended to decrease in concentration 5 years after fire whereas particulate matter concentration continued to increase. Assembling this unique and extensive dataset provided the opportunity to determine the most common post-fire water-quality changes in the large and diverse Western USA. Results from this study could inform studies in other parts of the world, will help parameterise and validate post-fire water-quality models, and assist communities affected by wildfire to anticipate changes to their water quality.


Author(s):  
Tejashri V. Patil

Abstract: Groundwater is one of the earth’s most widely distributed and most important natural resources. Groundwater exists, wherever water penetrates beneath the surface. The rocks beneath the surface are permeable enough to transmit water, and at places, the rate of infiltration is so sufficient that the rocks are saturated to an appreciable thickness. This water may be fresh or brackish in quality. As the fresh water constitutes very little quantity of the total water available, we must think as to how best we can exploit it, and utilize it. With the growth of population, today in many of the places water has become a critical source. In many places it is dwindling both in quality and quantity, creating problems for the communities involved. Water Quality Index indicates the quality of drinking water by assessing physical, chemical and biological parameters of water. India had the most studies, with 177 articles, followed by China, Brazil and the United States. This four countries together published 57% of studies on WQI. Groundwater quality implies the level of concentration of different constituents of water which is ultimately described if it is suitable or not for drinking or other purpose such as irrigation. There are mainly three types of constituents or parameters for describing quality of groundwater as physiological, chemical and biological parameters. These parameters are described below: EC ,TDS, K, Na, Ca ,Mg ,TH, Co3, HCO3, Cl, SO4 ,and also we determine some trace element such as Copper (Cu) ,Lead (Pb), Manganese (Mn) ,Nickel (Ni) ,Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn). Keywords: Gokul Shirgaon , Hydrogeochemical , GroundWater


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