Quality of water used for human consumption in rural areas, a case study in Santa Rosa do Sul-Santa Catarina/Brazil

Abstract

Safe drinking water and sanitation are recognized as basic rights. Water intended for human consumption has often been recognized as a vehicle for disease transmission. Many epidemics originated in water distribution and supply. Approximately 15% of the Brazilian population lives in rural areas, around 29 million people, who mainly live without access to sanitation services such as treated water. According to data from the Santa Catarina State Sanitary Surveillance for the AMESC region, from the autonomous water capitation systems (wells, springs, etc.), 60% indicated the presence of Total Coliforms and 34% indicated the presence of E. Coli. These numbers motivated the accomplishment of the present work. In this sense, seeking to evaluate the quality of water consumed by rural communities, as case, we selected two communities of Santa Rosa do Sul, in the south of Santa Catarina state, in which a set of properties were evaluated 10 properties each, in accordance with its hydrogeological context and subsequent form of water abstraction (springs and wells tip). Even for the small number of parameters evaluated, 90% of the samples obtained in springs did not present potability conditions, predominantly related to microbiological parameters. The situation in tip-type uptake is slightly better, with 30% of the samples in potable condition. The biggest problem in this context is associated with the presence of aluminum with concentration above the limit established for potability.