Abstract
A study was performed to evaluate the environmental contamination in the Turvo Limpo River basin which receives effluent discharges from domestic (residential and commercial) activities. The watercourses examined were the São Bartolomeu Stream, Turvo Sujo River, and Turvo Limpo River, located in the Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Water samples were collected at the river-side and analyzed for evaluation of pollutant inputs. The pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, redox potential (Eh), dissolved oxygen (DO), total and settleable solids, visual color, hardness, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chloride, total phosphate, total nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate, total coliforms and E. coli, as well as the Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn speciation were determined in the watercourses. The data obtained were compared with those of the Brazilian Environmental Standards and with data from non-contaminated areas. River water characteristics in some sites were far from the limit values established for superficial waters with satisfactory quality. For instance, the BOD values reached 411 mg L−1 for a maximum limit of 10.0 mg L−1, while the ammonia nitrogen concentration reached 28 mg L−1 for a maximum limit of 13.3 mg L−1. Some sites showed E. coli values above those of non-contaminated regions. Besides the effects of sewage discharges into the water-courses, agriculture activities and the use of the area for cattle husbandry influenced the quality of the river waters, for instance, the pH of a spring-water sample reached the value of 4.3. The São Bartolomeu Stream has been contributing to the deterioration of the water quality of the Turvo Sujo River, while the Turvo Limpo River has also been affected by anthropogenic discharges in the Turvo Sujo River. The speciation of Cd, Cu and Pb showed that these metals were mainly found in the particulate fraction (i. e., associated with the suspended material). Fifty five percent of the water samples showed labile Zn concentrations greater than that of the nonlabile Zn.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdelhamid, M.I., Shaabandessouki, S.A., & Skulberg, O.M. (1992). Water-quality of the River Nile in Egypt. 1. Physical and chemical characteristics. Archives of Hydrobiologia, 3, 283–310.
Alonso, E., Santos, A., Callejon, M., & Jimenez, J.C. (2004). Speciation as a screening tool for the determination of heavy metal surface water pollution in the Guadiamar river basin. Chemosphere, 56, 561–570.
APHA – American Public Health Association. (1998). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater (20th ed.). Washington, DC.
Baeta, C. (2002). Antes que seja tarde. Revista Estado de Minas, 46, 16–19.
Baker, L.A. (1994). Environmental Chemistry of Lakes and Reservoirs. American Chemical Society, p. 527.
Baruqui, F.M. (1982). Inter-relačões solo-pastagens nas regiões da Mata e Rio Doce do Estado de Minas Gerais. Brasil: Dissertation, Universidade Federal de Vičosa, p. 119.
Branco, S.M. (1976). Análise de alguns aspectos e solučões prováveis para o lago Paranoá. Revista DAE-SABESP, 103, 38–45.
Brasil. (1990). Normas e o Padrão de Potabilidade da Água Destinada ao Consumo Humano. Brasil: Ministério da Saúde, Portaria n° 36 de 19 de janeiro, Brasília.
Carvalho, A.L. (2001). Contaminačão de águas subsuperficiais em área de deposičão de resíduos sólidos urbanos – o caso do antigo Lixão de Vičosa (MG). Dissertation, Universidade Federal de Vičosa, p. 122.
Cobelo-Garcia, A., Prego, R., & Nieto, O. (2003). Chemical speciation of dissolved lead in polluted environments. A case of study: the Pontevedra Ria (NW Spain). Cienceia Marine, 29, 377–388.
CONAMA - Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente. (2005). Resolučão No 357. Brasil: Ministério do Desenvolvimento Urbano e Meio Ambiente, Brasília.
COPAM – Comissão Estadual de Política Ambiental. (1986). Deliberačão Normativa n° 10., Belo Horizonte, Brasil: Fundačão Estadual do Meio Ambiente.
Esteves, F.A. (1998). Fundamentos de Limnologia. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: Interciência, p. 602.
Figura, P., & McDuffie, B. (1980). Determination of labilities of soluble trace metal species in aqueous environmental samples by anodic stripping voltammetry and Chelex and batch methods. Analytical Chemistry, 52, 1433–1439.
Florence, T.M., & Batley, G.E. (1977). Determination of chemical forms of trace-metals in natural-waters, with special reference to copper, lead, cadmium and zinc. Talanta, 24, 151–158.
Florence, T. (1983). Trace element speciation and aquatic toxicology. Trends Analytical Chemistry, 2, 345–344.
Förstner, U., & Wittmann, G.T.W. (1981). Metal pollution in the aquatic environment (p. 486). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Hart, B.T., Davies, S.H.R. (1977). New dialysis-ion exchange technique for determining forms of trace-metals in water. Australian Journal of Marine Fres. Research, 28, 105–112.
IBGE - Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. (2001). Pesquisa Nacional de Saneamento Básico. Brasil.
Jordão, C.P., Silva, A.C., Pereira, J.L., & Brune, W. (1999). Contaminačão por crômio de águas de rios proveniente de curtumes em Minas Gerais. Quimica Nova, 22, 47–52.
Jordão, C.P., Pereira, M.G., Bellato, C.R., Pereira, J.L., & Matos, A.T. (2002). Assessment of water systems for contaminants from domestic and industrial sewages. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 79, 75–100.
Jordão, C.P., Pereira, M.G., Matos, A.T., & Pereira, J.L. (2005). Influence of domestic and industrial waste discharges on water quality at Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Journal of Brazilian Chemical Society, 16, 241–250.
Klavins, M., Briede, A., Rodinov, V., Kokorite, I., Parele, E., & Klavina, I. (2000). Heavy metals in rivers of Latvia. Science of Total Environment, 262, 175–183.
Kozelka, P.B., & Bruland, K.W. (1997). Chemical speciation of dissolved Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Marine Chemistry, 60, 267–282.
Lu, J.Y., Chakrabarti, C.L., Back, M.H., Sekaly, A.L.R., Gregoire, D.C., & Schroeder, W.H. (1996). Speciation of some metals in river surface water, rain and snow, and the interactions of these metals with selected soil matrices. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 11, 1189–1201.
Macêdo, J.A.B. (2000). Águas & Águas, Ortofarma – Laboratório de Controle de Qualidade, Brasil: Juiz de Fora,Minas Gerais, p. 505.
Muller, E.E., Ehlers, M.M., & Grabow, W.O.K. (2001). The occurrence of E-coli O157 : H7 in South African water sources intended for direct and indirect human consumption. Water Research, 35, 3085–3088.
Nascimento, R.A. (1994). Desempenho de reator anaeróbio de manta de lodo utilizando efluentes líquidos de indústria alimentícia (p. 110). São Paulo, Brasil: Dissertation, Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Okonkwo, J.O., & Mothiba, M. (2005). Physico-chemical characteristics and pollution levels of heavy metals in the rivers in Thohoyandou, South Africa. Journal of Hydrology, 308, 122–127.
Ribolzi, O., Valles, V., Gomez, L., & Voltz, M. (2002). Speciation and origin of particulate copper in runoff water from a Mediterranean vineyard catchment. Environmental Polluttion, 117, 261–271.
Riley, J.P., & Taylor, D. (1968). Chelating resins for the concentration of trace elements from sea water and their analytical use in conjunction with atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Analytical Chimica Acta, 40, 479–485.
Silva, A.C., Jordão, C.P., Pereira, J.L., & Viana, R.F. (1999). Determinačão de Fe, Zn e Cd em um ecossitema aquático situado próximo a uma beneficiadora de caulim. Review Esc. Minas Ouro Preto, 52, 94–99.
Ure, A.M., & Davdson, C.M. (1995). Chemical Speciation in the Environment (p. 408). London: Blackie Academic & Professional.
Vilela, M. (1998). Uso de diferentes métodos de retificačão geométrica e classificačão digital de uma imagem TM/LANDSAT – 5 (p. 118). Brasil: Dissertation, Universidade Federal de Vičosa.
Von Sperling, M. (1996). Introdučão à qualidade das águas e ao tratamento de esgotos (p. 243). Segrac, Brasil: Belo Horizonte.
Xue, H., Sigg, L., & Gächter, R. (2000). Transport of Cu, Zn and Cd in a small agricultural catchment. Water Research, 34, 2558–2568.
Walker, C. (1971). Environmental Pollution by Chemicals. Hutchinson Educational.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jordão, C.P., Ribeiro, P.R.S., Matos, A.T. et al. Environmental assessment of water-courses of the Turvo Limpo River basin at the Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Environ Monit Assess 127, 315–326 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-9282-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-9282-x