Parametric Measurement of Water Pollution in the Jihuite Microbasin in the Highlands of Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract

Abstract Much of human well-being depends on ecosystems, a body of water can be used in different ways: as a source of drinking water, for agricultural irrigation, including for the generation of energy, many water sources support the production of food, in synthesis life on our planet is sustained through sensitive interrelations with various natural resources such as water flows. In the particular case that the river is an ecosystem of great richness and complexity, necessary for the sustainability of the population centres, a true urban planning must consider the adequate conservation of the natural causes of water (rivers and streams among others), avoiding using these routes as waste and wastewater collectors. Through the results obtained in the present monitoring it is possible to appreciate that the water quality in the main water bodies of the microbasin such as the Tepatitlan river decreases sensibly, from its origin in the Jihuite stream to the exit of the municipality of Tepatitlan, due to among other factors; the population growth, the increase in agricultural production in the study area, resulting in point and diffuse discharges of effluents without treatment, both of domestic origin as well as of agricultural and industrial farms, together with the limitations in the systems for the adequate treatment of domestic wastewater. It highlights a high organic pollution at the exit of the municipality evidenced mainly by: the low Concentrations of Oxygen Dissolved, high values of Specific Conductance, Chlorides, Oxygen Potential Reduction and ammonic Nitrogen that cause critical conditions for sustaining aquatic life, the use for agriculture, human and animal consumption, as well as problems of environmental pollution.