AVALIAÇÃO DA QUALIDADE MICROBIOLÓGICA DE ÁGUA SUBTERRÂNEA PROVENIENTE DE POÇOS DA REGIÃO METROPOLITANA DE FORTALEZA, CEARÁ

Public supply of water with good quality is essential to human health, since water can act as a vehicle for pathogenic agents from pollution, including human and animal feces. One of the ways to identify this type of contamination is by monitoring the presence of thermotolerant coliforms, an organism used as a microbiological standard, as determined in Brazil by Edict 2.914/2011 from the Ministry of Health, which establishes that water fit for human consumption must be free of thermotolerant coliforms in each sample of 100 mL. The objective of this study was to evaluate the microbiological quality of groundwater from wells in the metropolitan region of Fortaleza, capital of Ceará. For this purpose, 44 samples were analyzed, from the cities of Fortaleza, Aquiraz, Horizonte, São Gonçalo do Amarante, Maracanaú, Pindoretama, Eusébio and Caucaia. The samples were analyzed by laboratory staff of the State Environmental Office (SEMACE), using the multiple-tube technique with A-1 culture medium. Of the 44 samples analyzed, 40,9% were positive for the presence of thermotolerant coliforms and thus not in conformity with the regulatory standard. Consumption of water that does not meet the potability standard poses a risk to human health, so the results obtained should serve as an alert to the need to monitor groundwater in the Fortaleza metropolitan area to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases.