Impacto ambiental del vertimiento de aguas residuales en el sector "El Brillante", municipio de Villavicencio, Meta

Abstract

In Colombia, many of the urban agglomerates have grown without regulation of regional entities, consolidating communities in conditions of illegality and without adequate sanitation. Present study was carried out in an unlawful urban agglomerate in the municipality of Villavicencio, which lacks a sewer system, generating discharges and causing a low life quality in the sector. The aim of this study was to evaluate the environmental impact associated with the discharge of domestic wastewater (DWW) into the soil and water bodies of the place. The physicochemical parameters of water (solids series, COD, pH, EC, DO) and soil (pH, EC, CEC and concentration of C, N and metals) were determined to relate and identify possible effects of uncontrolled discharges. In DWW, a physicochemical parameters increase was observed such as turbidity (326 NTU), color (744 UPC) and gross COD that varied from 600 to 1500 mg L-1 and in the bodies of water surrounding the sector between 368 and 429 mg L-1. Also, the DO ranged between 7.1 and 5.7 mg L-1, values that were favorable for the water bodies, however, they were low for DWW (0.9 mg L-1). As well, a significant alteration in physicochemical properties of the soil was determined, such as pH, CEC, EC and N, mainly associated with wastewater disposition. It was possible to observe a significant negative effect generated by disproportionate discharges of DWW in the place, which is causing a loss of environmental services and low quality of life in the place.