05/05/2016
Samarco promoted today, May 5th, in the cities of Resplendor, Itueta and Aimorés, in Minas Gerais, a talk to farmers regarding the use of water from the Doce River for irrigation purposes. With support from the Capixaba Institute of Sciences and Management (ICCA), the company showed how are done studies that attest the quality of the water from the Doce River Basin for agricultural use, having the city of Governador Valadares (MG) as a starting point.
Samarco had the support of ICCA in January to assess whether the water from the Doce River was suitable for irrigation use. Two rural properties per town were chosen for the river water collection, taking place at every15 days, and the evaluation of 23 different parameters that, according to the literature on the subject, indicate whether the water is suitable for use in the fields. Since then, more than 90 reports were generated and some of them filed with the respective city halls.
In January, the reports – based on the material collected between Governador Valadares and Regência (ES) – began to point out that the water was fit for irrigation. Thus, producers of cities such as Baixo Guandu and Linhares, in Espírito Santo, resumed planting inputs. At harvest, samples were taken from plants and soil that had contact with the water by means of irrigation. Lab analyzes indicated that there were no changes, the water being fit for the referred purpose.
The study of plants and soil is complementary to the water analyzes as state parameters of the Resolution 357 of the National Environmental Council (Conama), which provides for the “classification of water bodies and environmental guidelines for their contextualization”. In addition to the biweekly inspection of the 23 items listed in the bibliography, an analysis according to the parameters listed by the federal agency is carried out once a month.
What is the ICCA?
The Capixaba Institute of Sciences and Management (ICCA) is a research institute based in Vitória (ES). It is a nonprofit organization that promotes innovative scientific researches that benefit society directly or indirectly. ICCA’s guest in the lecture was Professor Alessandro Ramos, from the North Fluminense State University (UENF).
Check out which are the 23 parameters evaluated every two weeks:
1 – Turbidity
2 – Total dissolved solids
3 – Electrical conductivity
4 – PH
5 – Sodium adsorption ratio
6 – Total Iron
7 – Total Sodium
8 – Chlorine
9 – Carbonate
10 – Hardness (CaCO3)
11 – Bicarbonate
12 – Sulfate
13 – Phosphorus
14 – Potassium
15 – Calcium
16 – Magnesium
17 – Boron
18 – Manganese
19 – Zinc
20 – Copper
21 – Aluminum
22 – Nitrate
23 – Iron +2 (Reduced) +3 (Oxidized)
