Macroscopic environmental impacts and water quality in springs located in Vila Bananeira, Arapiraca-AL

Abstract

Population growth is accompanied by a constant degradation of the environment, putting at risk the ecological balance of several ecosystems, directly or indirectly affecting many river springs. River springs are important environmental systems for maintaining hydrological balance and are the main sources of water for a river. In this context, and considering that water is an essential natural resource for various human activities, the aim of this study was to evaluate the conservation degree of river springs located in Vila Bananeira, Arapiraca-AL, through the Environmental Impact Index in Springs (IIAN), as well as to verify the quality of the water from these river springs analyzing some physical-chemical and microbiological parameters in the samples collected. The study was carried out in the months of January and February 2020 and divided into two stages. The first consisted of fieldwork with the observation of macroscopic parameters to determine the IIAN. Seven river springs were evaluated. In the second stage, laboratory analyzes were performed to determine the water quality of the river springs under study. Samples from the three springs that had the highest water volume were sent to the laboratories at UFAL / Campus Arapiraca.  Physico-chemical parameters such as: pH, turbidity and conductivity were determined using specific equipments for this purpose. Microbiological tests were also carried out to verify the presence of coliform group bacteria. For the microbiological analysis, the multiple tube technique was used. After the analysis, it was found that six springs had a reasonable level of conservation (class C) and one of them, the source denominated “A”, poor level of conservation (class D). The pH values ​​found were slightly below that required by the legislation, but were classified as satisfactory for human consumption. The turbidity values ​​were within the normal range, considering the reference values ​​indicated by the legislation. The conductivity values ​​found were: 304.9; 302.1 and 355.8 µS/ cm for river springs “A”, “B” and “C”, respectively. As for the microbiological results, only river springs “A” was reveal contamination by fecal coliforms. The results found in this research, as the degree of conservation of river springs “A”, considered bad, as the microbiological findings, are worrisome, given the importance of this source for the local and surrounding community, since this is the main source of water in the region.