Water quality in four reservoirs of the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Aim: This paper describes some limnological variables of four reservoirs with different trophic status (Billings, Guarapiranga, Jundiaí and Paiva Castro) of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, Brazil, aiming to characterize the water quality in these reservoirs. Methods: Water sampling occurred between October 2011 and September 2012, on subsurface, at the pelagic compartment. Physical and chemical characteristics of water were evaluated, and the Trophic State Index (TSI) was calculated. Multivariate Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was used to ordinate sampling sites and periods in relation to environmental data. Results: Two reservoirs were classified as eutrophic (Billings and Guarapiranga), one as mesotrophic (Jundiaí) and one as oligotrophic (Paiva Castro). The highest concentrations of total phosphorus, nitrogen and chlorophyll a were recorded in the eutrophic reservoirs. The lowest values of dissolved oxygen concentration were registered at Guarapiranga reservoir. Residence time in Paiva Castro reservoir was very low (one day); on the other hand, the highest value was recorded in Billings reservoir: 428 days.

A satellite-based investigation into the algae bloom variability in large water supply urban reservoirs during COVID-19 lockdown

“…The study sites are the reservoirs of Guarapiranga and Billings, both placed in the MRSP, a very populated area that faces serious environmental issues, such as the lack of sanitation, high loads of pollutants coming from urban and industrial areas (Pires et al 2015) (Figure 1). The two reservoirs are situated within eight cities: São Paulo, Itapecerica da Serra, Embu-Guaçu, São Bernardo do Campo, Diadema, Santo André, Ribeirão Pires and Rio Grande da Serra.…”

Higher Abundance of Sediment Methanogens and Methanotrophs Do Not Predict the Atmospheric Methane and Carbon Dioxide Flows in Eutrophic Tropical Freshwater Reservoirs

“…The study area comprised the Guarapiranga (23°40′S, 46°43′), Billings (23°47′S, 46°35′W) and Rio Grande (23°45′S, 46°31′W) reservoirs, in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area (São Paulo, Brazil), an area with notorious importance since their main function is water supply ( Pires et al, 2015 ). These three tropical freshwater reservoirs are eutrophic, due to the discharge of raw or inefficiently treated sewage ( Cardoso-Silva et al, 2014 , 2017 ).…”

Metals and limnological variables in an urban reservoir: compartmentalization and identification of potential impacted areas

“…The environmental local agency classified the area as eutrophic between 2006 and 2010 and as supereutrophic between 2011 and 2016, according to the Trophic State Index of Carlson (1977) adapted to tropical ecosystems, as proposed by Lamparelli (2004) (CETESB 2007(CETESB , 2008(CETESB , 2009(CETESB , 2010(CETESB , 2011(CETESB , 2012(CETESB , 2013(CETESB , 2014(CETESB , 2015(CETESB , 2017. The high levels of nutrients in the area have been observed by several other authors as Nishimura et al (2014), Pires et al (2015), Machado et al (2016), andLópez-Doval et al (2017). The critical water quality in Parelheiros area was also evidenced by biological indexes applied by CETESB (2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2017), such as the zooplankton community index (ZCI) and the aquatic life index (ALI).…”

“…The Parelheiros region receives a high amount of sewage and occasionally the water pumped from Billings reservoir, between 2.0 and 4.0 m 3 s −1 (Pires et al 2015), also an important but impacted reservoir with high levels of nutrients. Therefore, the poor water quality that enters the Parelheiros area is responsible for the characteristics of this compartment, such as high EC and nutrient concentrations (Nishimura et al 2014).…”