Avaliação da qualidade da água captada pelas comunidades ribeirinhas do Arapujá e Paratizão no rio Xingu, Pará

Abstract

After filling the reservoir at the Belo Monte HPP, Pará, several riverside communities had to be transferred to new lands, and the development caused by the installation of the plant led to the need for various projects to support the municipalities in the area of influence, and the population local. In this sense, the present study aimed to evaluate the quality of water consumed in two rural resettlement locations of people on the banks of the Xingu River: Arapujá, in Altamira, PA, on the banks of the Xingu River, in the municipality of Altamira; and in Paratizão, on the left bank of the same river, in the municipality of Vitória do Xingu. Through analysis of water samples to evaluate basic physical-chemical and microbiological parameters, a picture of the quality of raw water consumed by the communities in these two locations was constructed. Water samples were collected at the collection points, in two different periods, in the year 2022, the flood period (March); and drought (November) of the Xingu River, for physical-chemical (turbidity, color, and total concentrations of Iron and Manganese) and microbiological (total coliforms and E.Coli) analyzes in the laboratory, in the city of Altamira, in addition to measurement in situ of basic physicochemical parameters (pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and conductivity), through a multiparameter probe. For this study, the methodology was guided by a qualitative approach, of an applied nature, with exploratory objectives and a survey method. The procedures adopted to carry out the sampling and the selection criteria for these samples were based on sample selections. The collection points were distributed between water samples from the Xingu River and water samples from Amazon wells, and deep tubular wells, depending on the water collection option used by local residents. A socioeconomic and health survey of riverside families settled was also carried out, involving a total of 36 interviewees. The results of the interviews show a significant portion of the population lacking assistance in economic terms, with a family income of less than the minimum wage, collecting water directly from the Xingu River or Amazon wells, with precarious ownership of the occupied land, and sewage systems disabled domestic workers, which put the environmental and sanitary quality of the settlers in these studied locations at risk. Regarding water quality, parameters outside the standards established by the Ministry of Health (MS). For human consumption, especially with regard to the presence of total and fecal coliforms, they were recorded in almost all of the samples evaluated, putting the health of the riverside population, the target of this study, at risk. Therefore, it is concluded that the study represents a valuable contribution to scientific knowledge and to the development of public policies aimed at the management and protection of water resources in the Middle Xingu region, filling a critical gap in information that is not recorded in the media. communications or local bodies, providing essential data for decision-making to promote health and environmental sustainability in these communities.