Evaluación de la calidad del agua del río Upano, tramo de la ciudad de macas mediante el análisis de macroinvertebrados

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the water quality of Upano river in Morona Santiago, Ecuador, by applying the biological index Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) from Colombia. The research was focused on a qualitative and quantitative approach, as species of spotted macroinvertebrates were described, and also numerical values were defined, as per, for example, the case of the water quality indexes due to their sensitivity to some environmental disturbances. Hence, the Water Quality Index of the National Sanitation Foundation (WQI-NSF) was applied to compare the two different kind of water quality indexes. Three monitoring stations were chosen in a period of time between November, 2020 and January, 2021. With reference to the biological index, 225 individuals were detected totally, divided into 16 families and 6 orders. As a result, the biological index determined an acceptable quality valuation related to the Upano 1 station, an uncertain one for station 2 and a critical one for station 3. Meanwhile, the physicochemical index (WQI-NSF) detected a bad water quality for the three monitoring stations. In conclusion, the research presented significant differences between the two methods, the biological index generated a superior quality results in comparison with the results of the physicochemical index. This one, shows the results obtained in a determined place and time, instead the biological index is the result of the variation of the conditions of the water quality over a period. It is recommended to develop new studies based on many more monitoring stations.