A year of monthly monitoring water for human consumption in a region with high agricultural and farming impact in Salta, Argentina

CRUZ MERCEDES CECILIA; GUTIÉRREZ CACCIABUE DOLORES; GAMBONI OSCAR; ROMERO LUIS CÉSAR; VICENTE MARÍA SOLEDAD; GONZO ELIO EMILIO; RAJAL VERÓNICA

Simposio; 15th International Symposium on Health-Related Water Microbiology; 2009

This study was performed in a semirural area to the west of the Salta city in the northwest of Argentina, which is crossed by the Arenales River (Figure 1). The river is used as a water source for a drinking water plant, for agricultural irrigation, and for livestock maintenance. The poor water quality of the river and an associated irrigation channel were reported previously together with high incidence rates of diarrhea in the area (Rajal et al, 2009). The region is agriculture intensive, and there are many farms (mainly poultry) on the margins of the river and the channel that were identified as sources of pollution (Gil et al, 2009). The drinking water plant provides water for the local municipalities. As tap water provision is intermittent during the day (just for a few hours), people usually also use groundwater supplied from wells that are not deep enough --less than 10 m to ensure the absence of microbial contamination. Our hypothesis was that due to the soil characteristics the impact of land use would strongly affect the water table aquifer with high nitrate and ammonia concentrations from agriculture and farms, as well as high coliform counts due to the proximity of septic tanks.