Chemical and physicochemical properties of underground waters captured from artesian wells located at the county of Minas Novas (Minas Gerais /Brazil)

Abstract

The county of Minas Novas (State of Minas Gerais - Brazil) has been facing with water shortage periods. In many cases, the population has drilled artesian wells for its water supply. However, since some of these wells exhibited unwanted coloration, it was necessary to assess the water quality through chemical analyses. In this work, samples were collected and analyzed from two different artesian wells. The investigated parameters were (i) iron and manganese contents, (ii) ion concentration, (iii) pH, (iv) chemical oxygen demand (COD), and (v) electrical conductivity. The experimental findings revealed that the unwanted water characteristics are due to the presence of iron and manganese species which eventually form a colored precipitate.