Contamination of Water Supply Sources by Heavy Metals: The Price of Development in Bolivia, a Latin American Reality

Abstract

Like other Latin American countries, Bolivia is in the race towards development, which has caused many economic activities to be carried out without due consideration for the care of the environment. At this point, it is essential to carry out environmental inventories to preserve the quality of ecosystems and natural resources, such as water. As water is vital, it needs to be adequately monitored and managed to prevent its degradation. This research presents the results of monitoring the main sources of water supply in two continuously growing departments of Bolivia, La Paz, and Tarija. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the water to which the population has access, with particular attention to heavy metals with concentrations that exceed the permitted limits. The metals found were arsenic, chromium, mercury, manganese, iron, zinc, and tin in the Milluni area, and lead, iron, and manganese in the Guadalquivir area. Exposing the presence of metals in water sources implies immediate attention by decision-makers to take action to reduce the risk to public health. In addition, this study exposes a Bolivian reality that could encourage other countries in similar contexts to conduct similar studies on their water sources.

Critical Analysis of Stakeholders in the Municipality of Tarija, Bolivia, in Search of Strategies for Adequate Water Governance to Implement Reverse Osmosis as an Alternative for Generating Safe Water for Its Inhabitants

“…Recent investigations carried out in Tarija and La Paz, Bolivia [16], demonstrate the effectiveness of the removal of toxic contaminants present in drinking water through reverse osmosis. The results show that reverse osmosis can be implemented at low operating pressures, demonstrating significant sustainability in terms of energy and economic efficiency [16][17][18].…”

“…The management of water and energy resources will be more efficient when "active water citizens" increase environmental awareness by promoting monitoring measures and data collection, which significantly increases public motivation and environmental awareness for the efficient use of natural resources. Economic growth accompanied by global climate change exerts more significant pressure on conventional sources of drinking water, and it is necessary and urgent to create cooperative, sustained, and sustainable projects capable of supplying safe water with fewer risks, lower costs, and better technologies [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

Mathematical and Statistical Evaluation of Reverse Osmosis in the Removal of Manganese as a Way to Achieve Sustainable Operating Parameters

“…An analysis of Milluni's historical monitoring data exposes the presence of heavy metals at concentrations outside the permissible limits [9]. Other studies have corroborated the presence of high metal contents in Milluni, including Mn [65,[68][69][70]. Figure 3 shows the distribution of the lagoons in the upper part of the micro-basin.…”

Implementation of HydroBID Model with Satellite-Based Precipitation Products in Guadalquivir Basin, Bolivia

“…Finally, heavy metal has been found to be present in a few streams. Lead, iron, and manganese are consequences of mineralogical activity, which has also led to desertification in some zones of the basin [31]. However, studies have been conducted to evaluate treatment methods for the heavy metals, for example, the implementation of reverse osmosis [32].…”