Abstract

RODRIGUEZ, Roxana; RETAMOZO-CHAVEZ, Rocío; APONTE, Héctor  and  VALDIVIA, Elfer. Microbiological evaluation of a water body at ACR Ventanilla Wetlands (Callao, Peru) and its relevance to local public health. Ecol. apl. [online]. 2017, vol.16, n.1, pp.15-21. ISSN 1726-2216.  http://dx.doi.org/10.21704/rea.v16i1.899.

Wetlands are very important ecosystems in the central coast of Peru. Many of these environments are affected by human populations, who also make use of them for recreational purposes. With the aim of making a microbiological diagnosis of one of the water bodies of the Regional Conservation Area (ACR) Wetlands of Ventanilla, where the surrounding population perform recreational activities, a monthly monitoring program was conducted from august 2014 to July 2015, using 15 monitoring stations. The quantity of total coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis was determined. The presence or absence of Vibrio spp. and Salmonella spp. in four stations where the population has more access was also determined. To obtain the maximum permissible limits (MPL), the 2008 Peruvian Environmental Quality Standards for Water (ECA) were used. Of the 15 monitored stations, 6 had an annual average of Total Coliforms greater than the MLP (> 2000 MNP/100 mL), and 2 stations exceeded the MLP for thermotolerant coliforms (> 1000 MNP/100 mL). The presence of Vibrio spp. has been constant in three of the four stations evaluated. Salmonella spp. was absent in all points. The results show that human activities are altering this water body and can turn it into a reservoir of pathogenic microorganisms to human health; especially for the surrounding population that uses this small lake as a recreational area.

Keywords : fecal coliforms; maximum permissible limit (MPL); total coliforms; water pollution; Wetlands.

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