Nitrogen in the groundwater of the municipality of San Pedro La Laguna, Sololá

Abstract

The present article deals with the research carried out in the municipio of San Pedro la Laguna, department of Sololá. In order to obtain information on the quality of groundwater. This article presents the three forms of nitrogen studied, which are: nitrates, nitrites and ammonia. This study pretends to know the relationship between them and their behavior in rainy season and in dry season. Based on the information analyzed, it was determined that nitrate is the predominant form of nitrogen, which increases their concentrations in dry season and samples from the majority of analyzed wells exceed 50 mg/L of nitrates which is equivalent to 11.30 mg/L of nitrates in the form of nitrogen and are in a range between 64.97 mg/L and 506.00 mg/L. It was also determined that the concentrations of ammonia have an increase in rainy season especially in the two wells located in the coffee planting zone, being the sample of one of the two nearby wells, the one of greater relevance with a concentration of 377.50 mg/L presented in rainy season. Concentrations of nitrates and ammonia can cause health problems to children that consumed this kind of water