Zoraidy Marques de Lima

GIS applications for mapping and spatial modeling of urban-use water quality: a case study in District of Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil

A cross-sectional study utilizing spatial analysis techniques was conducted to study water quality problems and risk of waterborne enteric diseases in a lower-middle-class urban district of Cuiabá, the capital of Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Field surveys indicate high rates of supply water contamination in domiciles and, conspicuously, in public and private schools. Logistic regression models developed for the variables turbidity, Escherichia coli, total coliforms, and intestinal parasite infection did not identify singular explanatory factors for the supply water conditions and elevated incidences of enteric diseases among children. The contamination problems were found to be the result of precarious conditions involving both public infrastructure and in-building sanitary installations and their maintenance. GIS methods were successfully applied to create spatial datasets for logistic regression model building and to construct risk maps using regression coefficients.

Management of contaminated areas by gas stations in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil

The commercialization of petroleum-based fuels is a potentially polluting activity. Environmental impacts are mainly due to tanker truck accidents and leaking underground storage tanks of gas stations. The management of contaminated sites aims to reduce risks to human health and environment through measures that provide knowledge regarding the characteristics of contaminated site and the impacts of contaminants, thus allowing the most appropriate intervention to be determined. This paper analyzed the environmental licensing process of the Cuiaba-MT gas stations in order to present an overview of the gas stations responsible for some type of environmental contamination, since the investigation of liabilities is required for this license. One hundred and thirty-six licensing processes were analyzed, and it was found that 17 of these reported some type of contamination in soil and/or groundwater. The main contaminants were Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylenes (BTEX) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). The following remediation techniques were applied: three cases of natural attenuation, three of multiphase extraction and three of pumping. This highlights the necessity for the State Environment Agency to make available information about contaminated areas not only in Cuiabá but throughout the State. According to CONAMA Resolution 420/2009, this is an obligation of the environmental agency for the management of contaminated areas to be effective. It is also important that the Mato Grosso State establish public policies for the management of contaminated areas, with legislation specific to the issue, as some other Brazilian states have done.

QUALIDADE DAS ÁGUAS SUBTERRÃNEAS EM ÁREAS DE CEMITÉRIOS.

This research describes the results of physicochemical, chemical and bacterium analyses of two cemeteries in Cuiaba metropolitan aerea: Sao Goncalo and Parque Bom Jesus. The aim of this work is to investigate the environmental impacts on the groundwaters due to the location of cemeteries in urban areas. Periodical water samples were analised from wells implanted in the cemeteries areas. The results of the physicochemical, bacterium and chemical analyses allowed to conclude that: 1. Groundwater in that specific cemeteries do not show high concentrations of nitrogen compound (nitrate, nitrite and ammonia) and metals. 2. The presence of the cemiteries contributed to elevate the electric conductivity in the groundwaters which is probably due to the process of corpse decomposition “necrochorume”, which increases the concentration of dissolved salts in the groundwaters. 3. The cemeteries contribute to elevate the total ion concentrations (total dissolved solids) in the groundwaters, suggesting the “necrochorume” influence to the increase of mineral concentration. 4. The presence of Salmonella in the groundwaters of the two cemeteries was also detected. The data obtained in this study emphasize the danger to human health represented by the contamination of groundwaters in areas of cemeteries.