Recreational Water Quality Index (RWQI) for Colina Lake in Chihuahua, Mexico

ISSN 0188-6266 doi: 10.15174/au.2016.901 Recreational Water Quality Index (RWQI) for Colina Lake in Chihuahua, Mexico Índice de Calidad de Agua para Uso Recreativo (RWQI) para el Lago Colina en Chihuahua, México Héctor Osbaldo Rubio-Arias*, Nora Ivet Rey-Burciaga**, Rey Manuel Quintana*, Jesús Manuel Ochoa-Rivero***, Rubén Alfonso Saucedo-Terán***, Roberto Carlos Ortiz-Delgado** ABSTRACT Recreational water use provides important benefits for human health; nevertheless, there can be adverse effects if the water is polluted. Aim of this work was to develop a Recreational Water Quality Index (RWQI) for Colina Lake in Mexico. Water samples were collected from March 2011 to February 2012 at seven random locations and at three depths (0.30 m, 1.0 m and 2.0 m). Parameters analyzed were pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature (T), turbidity, total hardness (TH) chlorides (Cl-) and total (TC) and fecal coliforms (FC). Statistical analyses were made considering a 12 ´ 3 factorial arrangement design while the RWQI was calculated for the 0.30 m depth. In general, results for parameters did not differ according to sampling depth or the interaction, but there were statistical differences according to sampling month. The RWQI indicates that water quality is generally adequate for recreational purposes. RESUMEN Recibido: 21 de julio de 2015 Aceptado: 19 de abril de 2016 Keywords: Chihuahua; coliforms; Mexico; recreation areas; quality index. Palabras clave: Chihuahua; coliformes, México; áreas recreativas; índice de calidad. Cómo citar: Rubio-Arias, H. O., Rey-Burciaga, N. I., Quintana, R. M., Ochoa-Rivero, J. M., Saucedo-Terán, R. A., & Ortiz-Delgado, R. C. (2016). Recreational Water Quality Index (rwqi) for Colina Lake in Chihuahua, Mexico. Acta Universitaria, 26(3), 14-22. doi: 10.15174/au.2016.901 El uso recreativo del agua ofrece importantes beneficios para la salud humana; sin embargo, al estar contaminada puede tener efectos adversos. El objetivo de este trabajo fue desarrollar un Índice de Calidad del Agua para Uso Recreativo (RWQI, por sus siglas en inglés) para el lago Colina en México. Las muestras de agua se colectaron de marzo 2011 a febrero 2012 en siete sitios al azar y a tres profundidades (0.30 m, 1.0 m y 2.0 m). Se analizaron pH, conductividad eléctrica (CE), sólidos totales disueltos (SDT), oxígeno disuelto (OD), temperatura (T), turbidez, dureza total (DT), cloruros (Cl-) y coliformes totales (CT) y fecales (FC). Los análisis estadísticos se realizaron considerando un diseño de arreglo factorial 12 ´ 3. Los resultados presentaron diferencias estadísticas solo para los meses de muestreo, ya que no se presentó efecto de interacción. El RWQI se calculó para la profundidad de 0.30 m e indicó que la calidad del agua es adecuada para fines recreativos. INTRODUCTION Surface water bodies are receptors of both natural substances and anthropogenic wastes that in turn can alter their ecological capacity. Recreational aquatic ecosystems play an important role because direct contact with polluted waters can affect human health (Almeida, González, Maella & González, 2012; Massoud, 2012; Soller et al., 2014). Consequently, it is recommendable to assess water quality in order to know the levels and variations of certain variables to apply proper management and conservation practices (Alobaidy, Abid & Maulood, 2010). The Water Quality Index (WQI) is a methodology to determine the quality of a given water body. Any WQI is a single numerical expression to describe the pollution level that is calculated according to different variables (Dos Santos-Simoes, Moreira, Bisinoti, Gimenez & Yabe, 2008; Samboni-Ruiz, Carbajal-Escobar & Escobar, 2007; Torres, Hernán-Cruz & Patiño, 2009). Steinhart, Schierow & Sonzogni * College of Animal Science and Ecology of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua. Periférico Francisco R. Almada, km. 1 Carretera Chihuahua-Cuauhtémoc. Colonia Zootecnia, Chihuahua, México, C.P. 33820. Phone: +52 614 434 03 04. E-mails: ; ** College of Animal Science and Ecology of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua. Periférico Francisco R. Almada, km. 1. Carretera Chihuahua-Cuauhtémoc. Colonia Zootecnia, Chihuahua, México, C.P. 33820. Phone: +52 614 434 03 04. E-mails: ; *** Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarías (INIFAP)-Centro de Investigación Regional Norte Centro (CIRNOC). Campo Experimental Delicias-Sitio Experimental La Campana km. 33.3 Carretera Chihuahua-Ojinaga. Aldama, Chihuahua, México, C.P. 32910. Phone: +52 55 38 71 87 00. E-mails: ; ochoa.jesus@inifap. gob.mx; 14 Vol. 26 No. 3 Mayo-Junio 2016 ISSN 0188-6266 (1982) implemented one of the first WQI’s in a study of the Great Lakes using nine variables. Other overseas aquatic ecosystems have been studied for their appropriateness for recreational purposes, such as Tota Lake in Colombia (Cañon & Valdés, 2011), Pushkar Lake in India (Sharma, Yadav, Saini & Sharma, 2011) and Ahor Lake in Ghana (Amfo-Out, Wiafe & Kocke, 2011). In Mexico, as well as overseas, WQI’s have been used to determine pollution levels in various aquatic ecosystems. De la Mora, Rubio-Arias & García-Velazco (2005) developed a WQI for Chapala Lake in Jalisco, Mexico, and concluded that the lake presented different levels of contamination. There had been several water quality studies of different ecosystems in northern Mexico. Rubio-Arias, Contreras-Caraveo, Quintana, Saucedo-Terán & Pinales-Munguia (2012) developed a WQI for the Luis L. Leon Dam and found a reduction of water quality during the rainy season. Gutiérrez & Borrego (1999), Holguín et al. (2006) and Rubio-Arias, Quintana, Jiménez-Castro, Quintana & Gutiérrez (2010) have studied the quality of water in the Conchos River, which is the most important river in Chihuahua State, Mexico, and have reported that the levels of some variables are higher than safe levels identified by Mexican and international safety standards. Colina Lake, located in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, is fed by the Conchos River. It is by far the most important recreational ecosystem in the State. A study by Rubio-Arias, Rey, Quintana, Nevarez & Palacios (2011) of this recreational lake showed the presence of Escherichia coli, which increases following the Easter holiday. However, there is still a lack of information about the water quality of Colina Lake. Consequently, the main objective of this research was to develop a WQI for recreational purposes (RWQI) using physical, chemical and microbiological variables. A second objective was to characterize the performance of each variable over the period of one year. This study will identify both the presence and variability of different parameters. This knowledge will have practical applications to preserve and conserve water quality for the benefit of all visitors and local residents. METHODS AND MATERIALS Study conducted from 2011 to 2012 at the Colina Lak (...truncated)