Water quality assessment of six rivers of the Pacific side of Guatemala

Abstract

The seas of Latin America are of great marine richness; however, river contaminants that drains to the seas, the growing human settlements around the coast, overfishing and growing agricultural activity, limit the ecosystem benefits. Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America with 17 million and the agricultural activity has been growing, mainly with monocultures that demand a large amount of water. High human population densities and intensive agricultural land use have negative impacts on the environment. In addition, Guatemala does not have a water quality regulation that allows river water quality monitoring and its effect on the oceans; therefore, the condition of its rivers and its impact on the seas is currently unknown. The objective of this research was to evaluate the quality of several rivers on the Pacific side of Guatemala using Costa Rica’s water quality regulations in conjunction with a quality index developed for that nation. It was determined that the rivers sampled for a year showed from moderate to very severe pollution. The main quality indicators that caused such contamination was due to high concentrations in fecal coliforms, phosphates and organic matter load, which vary depending on rainfalls as well as river flow changes.