55 / 2023-12-26 00:02:20

Evaluating Temporal Variation of Pollutants in Effluents Emitted by Industrial Groups to Valencia Lake Basin, Venezuela

TEMPORAL VARIATION,POLLUTANS,INDUSTRIAL GROUPS,WATER BODIES

Valencia Lake, Venezuela, has eutrophication problems, which causes difficulty in self-purification, due to the anthropogenic activities developed within its basin. Data was collected between the years 2009 and 2013 from industrial groups dedicated to the sectors: Food and beverage production, Paper and lithographic production, Vehicle and automotive-parts assemblers, and Production of chemical and related products. Source of the data managed in this work was originated by the Hidrolab Toro Consultores laboratory company authorized by the Ministry for Popular Power of Eco-Socialism and Water to carry out these evaluations. The applied method involved: 1) Description of the physicochemical characteristics of the evaluated effluents. The applicable environmental regulations, environmental quality models, sampling methods and water analysis were investigated. The selection of companies according to the classification established in environmental regulation. 2) Quantification of pollutant loads emitted by industrial groups. Mass flows emitted by company and by groups were estimated. A classification of industrial groups based on the generation of pollutants was established. The comparison of industrial groups was based on the mass loads of pollutants emitted. 3) Determination of the quality of water emitted by industrial group. The types of environmental quality indexes and their application to the case study were investigated. The results obtained were compared with the criteria established for each Environmental Quality Index (EQI). 4) Chronological evaluation of the quality of the wastewater emitted to the Valencia Lake Basin, identifying the industrial groups. Statistical techniques such as seasonal decomposition, multiple range test, box and whisker plots and means plots were applied. There were significant differences between the paper industry group and the rest of the groups in terms of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD₅), nitrogen and phosphorus, while the chemical industry group presented differences significant with respect to the rest of the groups in terms of Chlorides and Sulfates. The group that provided the greatest contributions of nutrients such as total nitrogen and total phosphorus were associated to the paper and lithographic industry group with phosphorus contribution values between 0 and 1200 kg/d and nitrogen between 0 and 60 kg/d. Automotive-parts and vehicles industrial group exceeded the concentration of Phosphorus allowed in environmental regulation, the paper industry group exceeded the limits of BOD₅, COD, nitrogen, phosphorus and total suspended solids, the chemical industry group and Food and Beverages do not exceed any of the limits.  EQI reflected that the effluents present a deterioration in quality terms.