Quality of raw water in the Guandu Basin of Rio de Janeiro state during water crisis of 2020

  • Adriana Sotero-Martins Departamento de Saneamento e Saúde Ambiental. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, n° 1480, CEP: 21041-210, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
  • Aloysio da Silva Ferrão-Filho Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Avaliação e Promoção da Saúde Ambiental. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Avenida Brasil, n° 4365, CEP: 21040-360, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
  • José Augusto Albuquerque dos Santos Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Avaliação e Promoção da Saúde Ambiental. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Avenida Brasil, n° 4365, CEP: 21040-360, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
  • Priscila Gonçalves Moura Pós-Graduação em Saúde Pública e Meio Ambiente. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, n°1480, CEP: 21041-210, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
  • Natasha Berendonk Handam Programa de Doutorado em Saúde Pública e Meio Ambiente. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, n° 1480, CEP: 21031-210, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
  • Nelson Peixoto Kotowski-Filho Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Computacional e Sistemas. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Avenida Brasil, n° 4365, CEP 21040-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
  • Rodrigo Jardim Monteiro da Fonseca Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia Computacional e Sistemas. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Avenida Brasil, n° 4365, CEP 21040-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
  • Elvira Carvajal Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes. Departamento de Biologia Celular. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rua São Francisco Xavier, n°524, CEP: 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Keywords: cyanotoxins, public health, raw water quality.

Abstract

At the beginning of 2020, about 9 million inhabitants of the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, dependent on the Guandu Basin, experienced a water-supply crisis when their water tasted badly and gave off an odor. This work presents the results of analyses of the sanitary quality of raw water in this system at two different times during the water crisis, with respect to the presence of cyanobacteria found using metagenomic studies, and cyanotoxins, microcystin (MC) and saxitoxin (SXT) quantified by ELISA. Analyses of raw water quality parameters were carried out through the determination of total coliforms and Escherichia coli levels and some physical-chemical parameters. The raw water collected in both periods presented levels of Escherichia coli levels above the maximum allowed values (MAV) described in Resolution 357/2000 of the National Environmental Agency, as well as the levels of MC in a filter sample. The physical-chemical parameters analyzed and the SXT levels were in accordance with this resolution. The most abundant cyanobacterial genus in the critical period was Planktothricoides sp. Therefore, it is necessary to implement basic sanitation in cities upstream from the point of capture of raw water from this source, so that events similar to those that occurred in the 2020 water crisis do not recur.


Published
02/07/2021
Section
Papers