Correlation between the concentration of heavy metals in drinking water and their concentration in the surface water of the Tumbes River, Peru

Abstract

The objective of this research was to find the correlation between the concentration of heavy metals in drinking water in rural areas of Tumbes and their concentration in the surface water of the Tumbes River, for which the Pearson correlation method was used and atomic emission spectroscopy using the graphite technique, where a high concentration of lead was found in the river and in drinking water, reaching concentrations of 194.889 ± 0.3182 µg/l in the town of San Jacinto and 99.079 ± 0 0.0481 µg/l in the town of Oidor, in addition, an inverse correlation index of low intensity was found for all the heavy metals analyzed with values ​​of -0.62 (pb), -0.8 (cd) and -0.65 ( cr), which indicates a decrease in the concentrations present in homes, except for some points where an increase is evident, such as the case of Rica Playa, La Capitana, Higuerón and Oidor, towns that do not have a treatment system. of water.