Characterization of water from wells for human consumption in three villages of the San Francisco Amatepe canton, municipality of San Luis Talpa, department of La Paz, El Salvador

Abstract

The research was carried out in the period from September 2019 to January 2020 in the Los Encuentros, El Anono and El Hervedor hamlets of the San Francisco Amatepe canton, municipality of San Luis Talpa, department of La Paz, El Salvador; with the objective of characterizing the well water of the study area, knowing the practices of use and management of water and soil in the site through a socio-economic study. For the characterization of the water, six wells were randomly selected, experimental units for each of the villages, 3 water samples were taken for the microbiological parameters, and two for the physical-chemical parameters. The physical-chemical analyzes were carried out in the Agricultural Chemistry Laboratory of the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences and in the Physical-chemical Laboratory of Waters of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, both of the University of El Salvador. The microbiological analyzes were carried out at the Research and Development Center of the Comprehensive Training Center of the National Administration of Aqueducts and Sewers. The results of the analyzes were compared with the Salvadoran Technical Regulation “RTS 13.02.01:14 Water. Water for Human Consumption. Quality and Safety Requirements”. The results showed that the water wells have maximum contamination by arsenic (0.09 mg/L), manganese (0.57 mg/L), iron (0.45 mg/L), nickel (0.390 mg/L) and lead (0.01 mg/L). In all water wells there is contamination by Total Coliform Bacterias (1.00 to 2,419.6 MPN/100 mL (most probable number), Escherichia coli (<1.00 to >2,419.6 MPN/100 mL) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1.00 to1,119.90 MPN/100 mL), which do not comply with the Salvadoran Technical Regulations; therefore, the water from all the wellssampled from the hamlets under study is not suitable for humanconsumption