Water bodies affected by wastewater discharge in the Quebrada la Tonchalera,Cúcuta 2024-2025

When a body of water is seriously affected by anthropogenic activities, it is necessary to carry out a series of analyzes that will allow us to find the factors that alter its natural state and from this it will be possible to develop a diagnosis. Despite
Colombia has a water potential three times greater than the average of South American countries and six times greater than
The global average specific water supply presents serious problems in the availability of quality water in
many regions; especially, those more populated areas. This is mainly due to pollution,
deforestation, erosion, loss of retention capacity and regulation of water resources, drastically altering the
biodiversity and ecosystems that directly and indirectly regulate water supply. This difficult situation of
quality of rivers has increased general interest, in order to determine the components that influence the
structure, composition and current dynamics of hydrographic basins.

The question or hypothesis is posed: The greater the amount of physical, chemical and biological contaminating agents, the greater the amount of contamination in the water of the Quebrada La Tonchalera.

The type of study has a descriptive level and field design.

Visits were made along the Quebrada La Tonchalera and geolocation of sampling points in March 2023, having contact with the population of the sector. After the visit, the materials for sampling were organized; The first sampling was carried out on April 19, 2023, performing microbiological analysis to search for coliforms, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp. On May 17, 2023, samples were taken for physicochemical analysis, which included: determination of Cadmium, Copper, Biological Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Mercury, and Lead.

The total absence of Salmonella stands out in the results obtained, because the water may contain traces of detergents, disinfectants and other substances that inhibit it.
In all the samples carried out at the moment, coliforms, Escherichia coli, were found, thus evidencing the contamination of fecal origin that occurs in the sampled points.