Fecal coliform analysis in water of fish polyculture integrated with piggery wastes

Abstract

As pig raising is present in the majority farms of the West region of Santa Catarina State, Brazil,
a favorable scenario was created for fish production in polyculture with fertilization through piggery wastes. Although recognized by specialists that this system comes to assist in the improvement of environmental quality, the rural producer has been facing critics that this system would be promoting the contamination of streams that receive its effluentes. The purpose of this work was to study the water quality of the effluents produced by the
manured ponds with emphasis to indicators of fecal contamination. For two years 26 ponds were monitored in three different models for pig waste receptions: horizontal, vertical and variable, of a total of 161 ponds in the municipality of Chapecó. In the effluents of the fish raising ponds, horizontal, vertical and variable models, the concentration of fecal coliform up to 1,000NMP/100ml was 69,9%; 77,8% and 86,5% respectively, in 396 samples
analyzed. The concentration up to 4,000NMP/100ml occurred in at least 88,5% of the analyzed samples, for the three models for waste receptions. The environment legislation in Santa Catarina State establishes for the effluents receptive streams the index limit up to 1,000NMP/100ml of fecal  coliform in 80% or more than at least five monthly samples for water of class II and 4,000NMP/100ml for water of class III. Therefore, the water quality
from the polyculture integrated with pig raising effluentes analyzed in this study is within the tolerated limits according to the enviroment legislation for the receptive streams in class II and III.