Pollution risk assessment of the groundwater resources at the municipality of San Pedro La Laguna, Sololá

Abstract

This article presents an assessment of vulnerability and risk of the underlying aquifer in the municipality of San Pedro La Laguna, Sololá. The evaluation was carried out applying the GOD method (Groundwater occurrence-overall aquifer class-Depth) (Foster, 1987), to determine the vulnerability, and to determine the risk and protection priority, the vulnerability results were combined with the pollutant load evaluation method. POSH (Pollutant Origin Surcharge Hydraulically) (Foster and Hirata, 1988). With the application of the methodology in a small region, risk zones were established that were compared with the concentrations of nitrates detected in the analytical campaigns carried out in which concentrations of nitrates in a range of 7.92 to 118.80 mg/L in rainy season and 13.00 to 506.0 mg/L in dry season. For a simple utility, vulnerability, risk and protection maps were developed that can be useful tools for the planning of the territorial ordering of the area, the management and control of water resources.