Optimización del sistema de tratamiento de agua potable en la planta de San Juan Alto de la parroquia Matriz del Cantón Guamote

Abstract

Optimization of the Drinking Water Treatment System at the San Juan Alto plant, belonging to the main parish of the Guamote canton, located in the province of Chimborazo, in order to supply the population with quality water that guarantees their health and well-being. Physical-chemical and microbiological analyses were performed on three samples during one month, at the Technical Laboratory of the ""Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo"" and at the Environmental Services Laboratory of the ""Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo"", after this characterization the parameters that were outside the permissible limits were determined according to the Ecuadorian Technical Standard NTE INEN 1108:2011 ""Drinking Water. Requirements""; being these: lead and phosphates; for the removal of these contaminants, jar tests were performed with a coagulant: aluminum polychloride. After finding the adequate dose of the chemical, lead and phosphate removal was achieved in 80 and 85% respectively, which indicates that when the PAC is applied, the water will be free of contaminants. Engineering calculations were made to find the best option for optimizing the plant, with the following sequence of stages: rapid mixing in a rectangular weir, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and chlorination, although this plant already had sedimentation and chlorination. With the results obtained in the treatability tests, it is concluded that by optimizing the plant, the water that will be distributed to the community will have acceptable characteristics that allow its consumption, which is why the Autonomous Decentralized Municipal Government of Guamote Canton should implement this project. It is also important that all municipalities improve or design these treatment systems because it is their obligation to provide safe drinking water service to the inhabitants.