Geotechnologies applied in the analysis of the contamination risk of water wells in Sorocaba city SP, Brazil

Abstract

Due to the growth of the Sorocaba city and the amount of companies that install themselves in the municipality every year, this study aimed to assess the risks of contamination of water wells near contaminated areas using geoprocessing techniques. To survey the contaminated areas was used the inventory provided by the Environmental Company of the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB) and the location of water wells in the municipality were obtained from the database of the Department of Water and Electrical Energy (DAEE). The concentration of contaminated sites was assessed by kernel density estimator, and the values were ordered in three different classes of contamination risks, being low, medium and high. The results demonstrated that 17.3% of the contaminated areas are located in the high risk zone, while the medium risk zones covered 50.0% of the contamination points. The high and medium risk zones include 57 water wells with eminent contamination risks, which can compromise human health from the consumption and use of water from the wells present in these zones. The use of geoprocessing tools in the analysis of risks of contamination proved to be effective, allowing the selection of priority zones for the management and monitoring of water wells.