Study of the Influence of Anthropogenic Sources on the Water Quality of the Ambato River, Tungurahua - Ecuador. A Growing Environmental Problem

Abstract

The objective of this research was to establish the effect of anthropogenic sources on the degree of contamination in five points of the middle and lower basin of the Ambato River, in the province of Tungurahua (Ecuador), by determining ten physicochemical parameters following the Manual of Standard Methods for Water and Wastewater Analysis and Determination of Water Quality Index (WQI) from the National Sanitation Foundation NSF. The tests were structured in a replicated double division design, taking a sample for each sampling point, dividing them into two subsamples, which later are going to be four times replicated, 20 water samples were collected along the middle and lower basin of the river in two sampling campaigns. Of all the parameters tested, at least four parameters are within the permissible limit, temperature, turbidity, biological oxygen demand, and dissolved solids; while dissolved oxygen, suspended and total solids, hydrogen potential, chemical oxygen demand, and surfactants surpassed the permissible limits under the Ecuadorian law present at the “Environmental Quality and Water Resource Discharge Standard Book VI Annex 1” (TULSMA), according to the WQI, it was fair and foul along the river regarding the water quality. The results showed that untreated industrial wastewater and domestic waste discharged into the river are the main causes of environmental risk. Also, they affect the populations near the river since they use this water as a source for irrigation of their crops, becoming a health risk for consumers of the grown products irrigated with this water along the riverside.