SANITATION CONDITIONS AND QUALITY OF GROUNDWATER IN MUNICIPALITIES IN THE WEST OF BAHIA (BR)

Abstract

Access to drinking water and basic sanitation services have social and epidemiological relevance for understanding the relationship between the environment and public health. This research aimed to investigate aspects of basic sanitation as variables that explain the quality of groundwater and the social health conditions of the municipalities Bom Jesus da Lapa, São Félix do Coribe and Serra do Ramalho, in Western Bahia, Brazil. This research was followed by an interdisciplinary approach to the environmental quality of water, counting the spatial analysis of indicators of sanitation, health and potability (nitrate). The analysis of groundwater quality integrated the data from the research by Gonçalves (2014) and Gonçalves et al. (2018) and the Groundwater Information System - SIAGAS (CPRM). The result of the spatial analysis of social health and sanitation indicators indicated inequities in the provision of sanitation services in the municipalities studied, revealing a profile of inequalities in access to public services. The local restrictions on potability of water for nitrate were more expressive in Bom Jesus da Lapa and Serra do Ramalho, due to failures in sanitary sewage, whose groundwater pollution represents a challenge to water resource planners.