Insights from Water Quality of High Andean Springs for Human Consumption in Peru

Abstract

The headwaters of the high Andean basin in Peru accumulate water from the mist, rain, snow, and hail, and it is transported superficially and underground to low-lying areas, mostly used for drinkable purposes. The natural water in these areas might be altered due to legal and illegal mining extraction. The aim of the study was to evaluate the water quality for human consumption. Seventeen water samples were examined from Andahuaylas (A), San Jerónimo (S), Talavera (T), and Chiara (CH) districts located between 2813 and 4004 m altitude in the Andes. We used physicochemical, microbiological, and metal parameters, and the results were compared to permissible levels established by the WHO and ECA-Peru to examine samples collected in the dry and rainy seasons in 2019. Application of principal component analysis (PCA) identified areas and conditioning parameters. Extractive mining activity influences the quality of springs due to the presence of metals, especially antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb), values of which are higher than values permissible for human consumption, being higher in the dry season (p < 0.05). In addition, the presence of cations and particulate matter affects physico-chemical parameters, for example turbidity. PCA showed that parameters for water characterization are season-independent, and water quality in the springs would be conditioned by the presence of metals, especially in Andahuaylas and Talavera zones, as well as the parameters that are associated with dissolved solids in the water (turbidity and fluorides). A frequent monitoring program of springs and groundwater is recommended, with the purpose to protect water from contamination and guarantee safe water availability in low-lying and urbanized areas.

Proposal of a Water-Quality Index for High Andean Basins: Application to the Chumbao River, Andahuaylas, Peru

“…In this sense, a WQI was formulated considering physicochemical, heavy metals, and organic matter aspects, as shown in Equation ( 4), taking into account the high Andean basin of the Chumbao River (WQI HA ), where it circumscribes different large-scale mining deposits which could provide inorganic material to the water. WQI HA = 0.3xSI PC + 0.3xSI HM + 0.4xSI OM (4) The water quality in the Chumbao River, regarding SI PC and SI OM (Figure 8a,c), are in "good" range for the high areas above 3184 m of altitude, and that it decreases considerably to "marginal" and "poor" levels due to the fact that domestic wastewater and residues from agricultural activities are dumped directly into the riverbed. Regarding SI HM , they are in the "good" and "excellent" range, although with a slight decrease, especially in urbanized areas below 2872 m of altitude (Figure 8b).…”

“…Those are forming water bodies due to the melting of glacial ice caps [1][2][3]. The headwaters of the basin serve as a water pocket zone through wetlands and lagoons and these are rich in active and reserve metal mining deposits [4,5]. In addition, grazing activities are developed for auquenids such as the llama, alpaca, and vicuña; and the massive cultivation of potatoes and quinoa with the use of conventional and high-technological irrigation systems [6,7].…”

Water Quality in Small-Scale Coffee Production Units, Amazonas, Peru

“…In Peru, especially the urban and rural population consumes piped water from different water sources, which is transported and stored in reservoirs where sometimes calcium hypochlorite solution is added as a disinfectant. It is then distributed through the piped network to households (Choque-Quispe et al, 2021).…”

Calidad microbiológica del agua de consumo humano del sector Fila alta-Jaén, 2019

“…La potabilidad del agua es un hito importante en el desarrollo de la humanidad, ya que ha permitido aumentar la esperanza de vida y controlar gran cantidad de enfermedades de transmisión hídrica. Si bien se conocen las técnicas de potabilización desde hace muchos años, la gestión de los sistemas de agua potable todavía presenta falencias, siendo poca la atención en cuanto al monitoreo de los parámetros de calidad del agua, realizando únicamente controles periódicos y evaluaciones de cloro residual (Choque-Quispe et al, 2021;Zúñiga & Mora, 2020).…”