Nitrate concentration higher than 10 mg L -1 in drinking water can cause health problems, especially in infants. Nitrates from a variety of surface and subsurface sources, such as fertilizers, are soluble in water and can leach into groundwater causing quality degradation. Groundwater from Delicias-Meoqui aquifer supplies drinking and irrigation water to six municipalities in the state of Chihuahua. A part of the area overlying this aquifer corresponds to the irrigation district DR-005, one of the most important hydro-agricultural works in Mexico. An evaluation was conducted using historical water quality data from 134 drinking water wells to make a preliminary diagnosis concerning nitrate presence in that aquifer. Water analyses showed that 34% of samples have nitrate concentrations equal or higher than the 10 mg L -1 drinking water standard. Most of these samples were from the Delicias, Saucillo and Meoqui municipalities, with approximately 180,000 inhabitants total. Undoubtedly, the high nitrate concentrations can be attributed to pollution within the irrigation district DR-005 where nitrogen fertilizers in large quantities are applied, dissolve in water and move with it through the soil profile down to groundwater. This preliminary evaluation will contribute to the development of preventative strategies that can protect groundwater in proximity to agricultural production systems from nitrate contamination.
Water supply for all kind of uses in Chihuahua is mainly groundwater. During the last decade this city has been damaged with a heavy hydrologic crisis because of a persistent drought. This came up with the overexploitation of groundwater aquifers; therefore a deficit between demand and offer was done. To minimize this problem the government authorities have started an integral plan of optimizing hydrologic resources which considers the treatment of wastewater and the use of reclaimed water. The secondary wastewater treatment facility of the city treats about 30,000 m3/d of a wastewater with high organic contents, and produces an effluent with low concentration of suspended solids, organic matter, fats, detergents, and metals. Reclaimed water is conveyed toward strategic sites for the irrigation of great green areas in sport clubs, educational institutions and industrial zones, besides of its utilization on some manufacturing processes, road service, and also over construction industry. The potential reuse of this water goes farther from those activities; the treatment of the secondary effluent until the required levels of the water-bearing recharge criteria are met for drinking water supply is considered as the next step to achieve through a suitable planning strategy for the best integral resource advantage.
Wastewater reclamation and reuse is an economically promising alternative to mitigate the effects of water scarcity and it plays a significant role to achieve a sustainable development, especially in arid regions. Benefits of wastewater reclamation and reuse are: protection of water resources, recovery of nutrients, groundwater recharge and sustainability of water resource management. Chihuahua relies entirely on groundwater as its potable water source. Due to an overdraft of aquifers, new sources to support future demands of drinking water are needed. One strategy implemented is wastewater reclamation and reuse upon activities where drinking quality is not required. The city has two treatment facilities which use activated sludge as the principal process; a part of the disinfected effluent is delivered through a non potable distribution system to public gardens, boulevards, educative institutions, sports and recreational centers, golf fields and manufacturing industries. The quality of restored water is monitored at the exit of plants, but there is no information in pumping stations, storage tanks and the sites where people are. Otherwise, samples are analyzed for Faecal Coliform bacteria, but nothing is done about protozoan pathogens which can cause numerous waterborne outbreaks. This preliminary study will contribute to evaluating, in a global form, the reuse practice done in Chihuahua, with the objective of releasing specific guidelines and strategies conducted to use best management practices in the planning, design, construction, operation and management of reclaimed and reuse system, to benefit the environment through an economic and ecologically sustainable scheme. strategies, guidelines.
The objective of this study is to gather sufficient information to make a diagnosis of drinking water sufficiency in the Chihuahua-Sacramento and Tabalaopa-Aldama aquifers. By applying advanced statistical techniques, the goal is to find the variables that control the regional and intermediate flow systems and establish the characteristics of a heterogeneous aquifer. The variables chosen from those established were as follows: total solids (TS), nitrates (NO3), fluoride (F), and total hardness, among others. In order to establish a conceptual model, the results from all the sampling were carried out by the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) in the aforementioned aquifers and were used to obtain an approximate flow differentiation. The results showed a good flow differentiation. In addition, a group of mixed water was detected among the intermediate and regional flows. The increase in the average regional flow values suggests a rise in the incidence of an upward flow of the regional flow as a result of uncontrolled extraction.
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