Qualidade da água de consumo humano do Tocantins a partir das análises realizadas no laboratório central de saúde pública

Abstract

The quality of water for human consumption is a global concern, and is considered one of the main means of transmitting diseases that cause countless deaths worldwide. In Brazil, the National Program for Monitoring the Quality of Water for Human Consumption (VIGIAGUA) was created to guarantee the population safe water, free from contamination. This Program was implemented in all municipalities in the state of Tocantins, with the Central Public Health Laboratory of Tocantins (LACEN-TO) being responsible for analyzing water samples, except for the municipality of Palmas, which performs its own analyses. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the quality of water for human consumption in Tocantins based on the analyses carried out by LACEN-TO during the periods from 2020 to 2023. This is a study with a historical-documentary, descriptive and retrospective methodological approach, carried out through data collection in the Laboratory Analysis Management (GAL) system. This study prioritized the analysis of the results of water samples from the Water Supply System (SAA) collected in urban areas, where the percentage of non-compliance with the potability parameters: turbidity, total coliforms and Esherichia coli was calculated. The results showed that the municipalities of the State were unable to fully comply with the programmed goals during the years studied, as they faced difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, some health regions presented infrequent and "silent" municipalities, without monitoring the water quality in their territory. Regarding the results of the SAA samples, collected in the urban area of the State, 1.40% were considered unfit for consumption, presenting turbidity above the value established by legislation. The Capim Dourado health region presented the lowest percentage of unsatisfactory samples (0.81%) and Cerrado do Tocantins the highest percentage (1.73%). The Amor Perfeito health region had the highest percentage of positive samples for the presence of total coliforms (20.04%), followed by Cantão with 19.93%. On the other hand, Médio Norte Araguaia had the lowest percentage, 11.06%. Considering the bacteriological index, 84.27% of the water samples from Tocantins met the microbiological standards for potability. In addition, the study revealed that 2.9% of the samples from the urban SAA were contaminated by Escherichia coli, making them unfit for consumption. Cantão was the health region in the state with the highest percentage of contamination by Escherichia coli (4.51%), while the Médio Norte Araguaia region had the lowest percentage (1.82%). These results highlight the fragility of the urban SAA, the continued importance of water quality monitoring, and the need for strategic actions to ensure public health in the state.