Monografia (especialização) - Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Centro de Ciências Rurais, Curso de Especialização em Agricultura Familiar Camponesa e Educação do Campo, RS, 2011. | The water used to human being consumption in Brazilian rural zone, and especially in agrarian reform settlements area, may have its potability committed, because it isn’t monitored by public organizations. This study is about the problematic of water Offered in schools and homesin agrarian reform settlementsprojects in Candiota, In the South of Rio Grande do Sul. Thus, there were realized the activities below: - brief reviewabout the contaminationof water sourcesin rural zone;- reportof the difficulties encountered by the agrarian reform families, mainly the lack of basic infrastructure in the occupied settlements in Candiota, HulhaNegra and Aceguá cities; - monitoring of water quality through laboratorialanalysis; - debate about how the natural resources are used and the quality of the water.It became evidentwhen almost everyone in the settlements are drinking inappropriate water, especially because of the contamination, there are catchment systems, water storage and distribuition of poorly constructed. Also, the farmers don’t mind about the preservation and cleaning near the sources for water catchment. Thereby, rural population should be oriented to preserve the water, using the soil according to the aptitude classes of land use and conserving natural and regional resources. So, the authorities should plan actions to ensure to the communities the quality of the water, like monitor the water quality, make environmental sanitation and a secure infrastructure to capture and store water, decreasingconsiderablythe risk of waterbornediseases. | A água utilizada para o consumo humano no meio rural brasileiro e, principalmente nas áreas de Assentamentos de Reforma Agrária, pode ter sua potabilidade comprometida, pois não é monitorada por órgãos públicos. O presente trabalho abordou a problemática da água utilizada pelos educandos e pelas famílias assentadas em Projetos de Assentamentos de Reforma Agrária do município de Candiota. Para tal, foram realizadas as seguintes atividades: - breve revisão bibliográfica a respeito da contaminação dos mananciais de água no meio rural; - relato das dificuldades enfrentadas pelas famílias em processo de Reforma Agrária, principalmente a inexistência de infraestrutura básica nos assentamentos ocupados do município de Candiota (contemplando também os municípios de Hulha Negra e Aceguá); - monitoramento da qualidade da água de fontes através de análises laboratoriais; - discussão da relação entre o uso e manejo dos recursos naturais e a qualidade da água. Evidenciou-se que praticamente todas as pessoas que vivem nos assentamentos estão consumindo água fora dos padrões de potabilidade, em especial devido à inadequação microbiológica. Isso está relacionado tanto aos sistemas rústicos de captação da água, quanto ao armazenamento e distribuição. Não há preocupação dos agricultores em termos de preservação e limpeza dos arredores das fontes de captação de água. Desse modo, recomendam-se ações para o esclarecimento dessa população rural em relação à adoção de medidas preventivas que visem à preservação das fontes de água e o uso de práticas de manejo do solo de acordo com as classes de aptidão de uso das terras, a fim de mudar seu comportamento, conservando os recursos naturais regionais. Sugere-se que as autoridades programem ações que garantam às comunidades rurais água de boa qualidade, por meio da vigilância da qualidade da água utilizada, do saneamento ambiental e da infraestrutura segura para captação e armazenamento de água, diminuindo consideravelmente o risco de ocorrência de enfermidades de veiculação hídrica.

The characteristics of groundwater systems and groundwater contamination in Finland, Norway and Iceland are presented, as they relate to outbreaks of disease. Disparities among the Nordic countries in the approach to providing safe drinking water from groundwater are discussed, and recommendations are given for the future. Groundwater recharge is typically high in autumn or winter months or after snowmelt in the coldest regions. Most inland aquifers are unconfined and therefore vulnerable to pollution, but they are often without much anthropogenic influence and the water quality is good. In coastal zones, previously emplaced marine sediments may confine and protect aquifers to some extent. However, the water quality in these aquifers is highly variable, as the coastal regions are also most influenced by agriculture, sea-water intrusion and urban settlements resulting in challenging conditions for water abstraction and supply. Groundwater is typically extracted from Quaternary deposits for small and medium municipalities, from bedrock for single households, and from surface water for the largest cities, except for Iceland, which relies almost entirely on groundwater for public supply. Managed aquifer recharge, with or without prior water treatment, is widely used in Finland to extend present groundwater resources. Especially at small utilities, groundwater is often supplied without treatment. Despite generally good water quality, microbial contamination has occurred, principally by norovirus and Campylobacter, with larger outbreaks resulting from sewage contamination, cross-connections into drinking water supplies, heavy rainfall events, and ingress of polluted surface water to groundwater.

Karst aquifers in subtropical regions are characterized by high variability of water availability and quality due to changes associated with rainy and dry seasons. An additional challenge for water management is the combination of surface-water and karst groundwater systems since high spatiotemporal dynamics cause high variability of water quality. In these cases, adapted protection strategies are required. In this study, a protection approach for the catchment of a river-water diversion point in a rural area in northern Vietnam is developed. The variability of water quality was evaluated by rainy and dry season synoptic surveys of suspended particles and microbial contamination at 49 sites and time series at three sets of paired sites under constant hydraulic conditions. The anthropogenic land-use activities in the catchment were mapped to identify potential contamination sources and to highlight the challenging combination of surface-water and karst groundwater management. The analyzed data indicate differences in water quality between the dry and rainy seasons and a higher influence on water quality from land use than from hydrologic conditions. Furthermore, the results suggest a high risk of contamination resulting from residential areas, agriculture, and livestock farming, and reveal the necessity of implementation of appropriate measures such as restricted farming and the hook-up of buildings to municipal sewage disposal. Finally, the data show that water quality can be improved by adjusting water withdrawals by the time of day. The applied methods can be transferred to other surface-water and karst groundwater systems in similar subtropical environments.

Two case studies were carried out in central Norway in order to assess the performance of bank filtration systems in cold-climate fluvial aquifers relying on recharge from humic-rich surface waters with moderate microbial contamination. Three municipal wells and two surface-water sources at operative bank filtration systems were monitored for naturally occurring bacteriophages, fecal indicators, natural organic matter (NOM) and physico-chemical water quality parameters during a 4-month period. Aquifer passage effectively reduced the microorganism and NOM concentrations at both study sites. Bacteriophages were detected in 13 of 16 (81%) surface-water samples and in 4 of 24 (17%) well-water samples, and underwent 3 ± 0.3 log₁₀ reduction after 50–80-m filtration and 20–30 days of subsurface passage. NOM reductions (color: 74–97%; dissolved organic carbon: 54–80%; very hydrophobic acids: 70%) were similar to those achieved by conventional water-treatment processes and no further treatment was needed. Both groundwater dilution and sediment filtration contributed to the hygienic water quality improvements, but sediment filtration appeared to be the most important process with regard to microbial and NOM reductions. A strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats analysis showed that bank filtration technology has a high potential as a pretreatment method for the provision of hygienically safe drinking water in Norway.