Proposta de índice de qualidade do esgoto sanitário para estações com a tecnologia lagoa de estabilização no município de Fortaleza/CE

Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), with the proper assessment and monitoring of their treatment processes, are important tools for mitigating water scarcity. However, under malfunctions or overloads, these stations can release their effluents in disagreement with the limits established in environmental legislation, thus compromising the health of water resources. This study aimed to build a Sanitary Sewage Quality Index (SSQI) as a tool to directly and objectively analyze effluent quality in relation to compliance with environmental legislation for their release. For this, five WWTPs that use waste stabilization ponds as treatment were chosen for an evaluation of their effluent monitoring data from 2016 to 2020. Principal component analysis was used to build the SSQI. The stations were classified according to compliance with environmental legislation into three classes: unsatisfactory, satisfactory, and excellent. The evaluated stations showed two positive highlights, which were in accordance with the established limits, whereas 60% of the evaluated stations were classified as having an unsatisfactory service.