Impact of meteorological variables on water quality parameters of a reservoir and ecological filtration system

Abstract

Recently, special attention has been given to low-cost technologies for water treatment, with the aim of serving remote communities and thus enabling everyone to have access to drinking water and basic sanitation. In that context, the ecological filter is an alternative for treating water for human consumption. Some studies show that climate change and meteorological parameters can influence the water quality of water bodies and the water supply system. However, most of the papers deal with model projections and therefore do not show real situations. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of meteorological variables (e.g. atmospheric pressure, evaporation, wind speed, radiation, precipitation) on the physico-chemical and biological parameters (e.g. turbidity, apparent colour, pH, total coliforms, Escherichia coli) of Lobo reservoir water treated by 22 ecological filters during a period of 4 months. Statistically significant correlations were found between the water from the Lobo reservoir and the weather variables, and between the water quality parameters of the 22 ecological filters and the average weather variables. The results from the statistical analysis indicate that climatic variations may influence treatment performance.