Avaliação da qualidade da água das praias do Litoral oeste de Fortaleza, Ceará, Brasil

Abstract

The appraisal of the water quality off Fortaleza city’s beaches has been addressed in this paper based on samples taken in six critical sites of its western coastline, in bimonthly periods over 12 months, from April, 2010 to February, 2011. For the analysis of that attribute, countings were made of the concentration of total coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms and Escherichia coli, as an indication of the environmental impact’s intensity by those groups of bacteria. The results show that the sewerage system that runs through stormwater pipes, as a part of the urban draining, represent the main vector accountable for the contamination and exposure of the sanitary conditions of those beaches. The high estimated concentration values of coliforms and E. coli are looked at as cause for alarm so that a regular monitoring plan is deemed necessary to such an extent as to enable the identification and exclusion of the main sources of water pollution, whereby the environment quality of Fortaleza city’s coastal zone can be preserved.