Influencia de las actividades desarrolladas en el campamento Guarumales sobre la calidad del agua superficial

Abstract

In this project, the quality of surface water that passes through the Guarumales camp belonging to the Electric Corporation of Ecuador (CELEC EP), Hidropaute headquarters, which is located in the town of Sevilla de Oro, and the existing relationship with the different activities carried out inside of it were evaluated. A quantitative and qualitative assessment of environmental impact was established that defined the treatment of water and waste as the one with the greatest impact. To define the water quality, the Water Quality Index (WQI) Montoya 97 was applied, after monitoring the flow rate and seventeen physicochemical and microbiological variables. This allowed establishing the degree of contamination in the water, being the hillside 2 and the channel of wastewater treatment the most affected, which recorded relevant variations between upstream and downstream. The water’s values recorded in the channel of wastewater treatment were cataloged between “slightly polluted” and “pollued”. Finally, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the hillsides and the channel of wastewater treatment was carried out, both in winter and in summer, which allowed a better understanding of the interrelations between the physicochemical and microbiological variables. The correlations recorded between the parameters indicated contamination by domestic wastewater, especially in the PTAR channel and the hillside 2.