INVESTIGATIONS WATER MANAGEMENT AND WATER QUALITY IN PICOS/ PIAUÍ AND TAUÁ /CEARÁ WITHIN THE BILATERAL WAVES PROGRAM IN NORTHEAST BRAZIL

Resumo

The knowledge on water management, -quality and supply is an essential
basis for the evaluation of the potential of regional / national development. Within the
project WAVES the investigations of the water quality were performed in surface and
ground waters as well as in drinking water supplying systems in urban and rural areas of
different municipalities in the region of Picos (Piauí) and Tauá (Ceará). The results show
that on principal in the region of Picos the hydrochemical quality does not impose any
restriction for the agricultural and drinkingwater use. In Tauá, due to geological conditions
part of the water sources can not be used because of the high salt content. The hygienic
quality in most of the analyzed samples did not met the requirements of the standards for
drinking water. The quality is strongly influenced by different handling caused by the
structural differences of the municipalities. In urban areas with water supplying companies
the water is chlorinated almost on a routine basis and microbiologically safe, yet containing
high concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons if surface water is used. The correlation of
the results of water quality and structural differences of the municipalities as well as the
geological conditions can be used for an up-scaling of the results for those groups in the
program WAVES working on a larger scale.