A região cárstica curitibana vem despertando um notável interesse em termos de exploração de água subterrânea, visando o abastecimento urbano e industrial. Entretanto, cada uso e ocupação da terra gera impacto diferenciado no ambiente, impacto este que necessita ser avaliado para fins de zoneamento e conseqüente conservação do meio. Iniciando este estudo na microbacia de Fervida, no município de Colombo, componente da bacia superior do rio Capivari, foi possível identificar, graças à grande diversidade de sistemas de ocupação do solo e uso da terra presente e sua interação com as diferentes feições pedológicas, as principais modalidades de impactos ligados aos recursos hídricos. Neste trabalho, utilizando um sistema de pesos que levaram em conta a presença de horizonte B textural, profundidade do solo e relevo, obteve-se uma série de valores que conduziram à seguinte conclusão: as zonas de maior vulnerabilidade correspondem as que compõem os solos litólicos e hidromórficos sobre calcários, enquanto as de menor vulnerabilidade seriam as Terras Brunas Roxas Estruturadas Eutróficas, que ocorrem exclusivamente sobre diabásio. Quanto ao impacto causado às águas subterrâneas que estaria ocorrendo na bacia, também definido por um sistema de pesos, observou-se que as áreas de habitação teriam um peso maior (maior dano específico ao ambiente). As situações de impacto extremo seriam nos solos litólicos e hidromórficos sobre calcário e sob habitação e, as de impacto muito baixo, seriam na Terra Bruna Roxa Estruturada Eutrófica sobre diabásio e sob terras agrícolas. STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF NITROGEN POLLUTION IN A CARSTIC HYDROGRAPHIC BASIN Abstract Since early nineties, there has been considerable interest in the exploitation of underground water supplies - for domestic and industrial use - in the Curitiba carstic region. Municipalities of the region have demonstrated considerable population growth which, accompanied by an expansion of urban areas, present some of the highest growth rates in the country. Given that this is a region that is still largely devoted to agro-forestry and livestock production activities, a new strategic dimension is added to the picture. Along the borders of the region, competition is generated between rural and urban-industrial activities, as well as mining activities linked to limestone extraction. Since all of these uses have different impacts on the quantity and quality of water resources, a complex situation requiring specialized methods of landscape analysis emerges. Such a study was initiated in the micro-basin of Fervida, municipality of Colombo, part of the upper Capivari river basin. Widely diverse systems of soil and land use were identified therein, as well as their forms of interaction with different pedologic features and the principal forms of impact on water resources. In this research, we have used a system of weights which, taking into account the presence of textural horizon B, soil depth and relief, produced a series of values leading to the following conclusion: the zones of greater vulnerability are those made of litholic and hydromorphic soils over limestone, while those of lesser vulnerabilty are the Terras Brunas Roxas that appear exclusively over diabase. In relation to the impact of developments within the basin, similarly defined by a system of weights in which inhabited areas have a greater weight (greater environmental damage), inhabited areas with litholic and hydromorphic soils over limestone manifest "extreme impact", whereas TBREE over diabase and under agricultural usage show low levels of impact.
Biostability of Tap Water—A Qualitative Analysis of Health Risk in the Example of Groundwater Treatment (Semi-Technical Scale)