The Arenales River in Salta, Argentina, Source of Life or Illness?

HUGO R. POMA; DOLORES GUTIÉRREZ CACCIABUE; BEATRIZ GARCÉ; ELIO E. GONZO; VERÓNICA B. RAJAL

Montreal

Congreso; IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition; 2010

IWA

The aim of this work was to characterize microbiologically the Arenales River in the section crossing the city and to evaluate its possible impact on public health. We present here some results as ranges between the minimum and maximum values obtained to date: temperature 10.9-26 °C, pH 6.8-9.7, turbidity 4->999 NTU, conductivity 0.102-0.940 mS/cm, salinity 0-0.04%, concentration of dissolved oxygen 1.20-9.44 mg/l, total coliforms 2.3 102->2.4 1010 MPN/100 ml, fecal coliforms 2.3 102->2.4 1010 MPN/100 ml, and Enterococcus 60-4800 CFU/100 ml. The presence of enterovirus, adenovirus, and norovirus was confirmed by real-time PCR. Parasites were ubiquitous; more than three different species were found in every sample analyzed, Entamoeba coli, Strongyloides stercolaris, Cryptosporidium sp., Dientamoeba fragilis, Giardia lamblia, Fasciola hepatica, among others Due to the high microbiological contamination found in the water samples we conclude that the River, in the section crossing the city, represents a high health risk for the population exposed. Considering international standards for recreational surface water (adopted by the national legislation), the water from the Arenales River, at any part, would not be suitable for recreational activities with direct contact, since most of points studied exceed the guidance established for the bacteria analyzed (WHO, 2006; SRHN, 2003; USEPA, 1986; EC, 1975). It is urgent to develop a cleaning strategy to recover the river (avoiding its use for recreational activities in the meantime) and to implement corrective actions to prevent additional contamination.