Qualidade da água do médio curso do Rio Bodocongó/PB utilizada para irrigação: análise à luz da legislação ambiental.

Abstract

The disorderly exploitation of water resources has gradually worsen the issue of water availability, considering the essential need to reduce water pollution, well as seeking viable alternatives to increase the water supply to redefine this resource use. The residuary waters use is a viable alternative to minimize issue regards water scarcity. Thus, its use enables us countless benefits considering even second quality waters in which may be beneficially used for a variety of purposes, concerning that less demanding uses can be attended with lower quality water increasing its availability, enabling a larger supply of good quality water to reducing pollution. By reusing water, there is the possibility of treating effluents to discharge it in a designed way in water bodies that are used in diverse ways. Furthermore, reused water can be destined to landscape irrigation, fields for crops irrigation, industrial uses, aquifers recharge, urban non-potable uses and other uses as diverse as aquaculture, construction, among others. As each reuse destination, the water must have certain characteristics relating to quality. CONAMA [National Environmental Council] Resolution no. 357/05 establishes national water’s general quality standard which determines the environmental agency to establish other specific local realities. There is no specific standard definition in Paraiba, nor adequate water quality due to the intermittent rivers situation. Besides affecting management actions, it also turns effective actions inspection impossibility. This study addressed to investigate whether the water quality used for crops irrigation on the banks of the middle course of Bodocongó’s river follows the general parameters required by national legislation and the recommendations of the World Health Organization [WHO] for wastewater use in agriculture. The methodology follows a case study on the analysis of a single case, the overall structure and the data was collected through scientific literature, field and experimental search. Finally, it was concluded that water quality in the middle course of Bodocongó’s river in accordance with the legal analysis is unsuitable for irrigation during the period of intermittency claiming for Local Government assistance to regulate this practice, since in location there are no other available water reservoirs for irrigation.