Revista de Investigaciones Altoandinas - Journal of High Andean Research

Vol. 27 (2025): Publicación continua
Original articles

Physicochemical and bacteriological characteristics of a high andean urban stream: Salcedo town, Puno, Peru

pdf (Spanish)
Humberto Peñaranda Barra
Programa de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano Puno
Alfredo Loza-Del Carpio
Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales, Salud y Biodiversidad - IICASB, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano Puno
Jesús Miranda Mamani
Programa de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano Puno
Margot Reyes Orihuela
Laboratorio de Ecología Acuática, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano Puno

Published 2025-09-30

Keywords

  • wastewater,
  • water quality,
  • pollution,
  • microorganism,
  • river

Copyright (c) 2025 Humberto Peñaranda Barra, Alfredo Loza-Del Carpio, Jesús Miranda Mamani, Margot Reyes Orihuela

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Peñaranda Barra, H., Loza-Del Carpio, A., Miranda Mamani, J., & Reyes Orihuela, M. (2025). Physicochemical and bacteriological characteristics of a high andean urban stream: Salcedo town, Puno, Peru. Revista De Investigaciones Altoandinas - Journal of High Andean Research, 27, e27710. https://doi.org/10.18271/ria.2025.710

Abstract

Urban streams are increasingly being affected by town due to the lack of wastewater treatment systems. Therefore, the impact of the Salcedo settlement on the physicochemical and bacteriological characteristics of the waters of the Ranchopunko stream that flows through it was evaluated. Three sampling stations were established: the upper reaches of the river without urban influence (station 1), the section that flows through the urban center (station 2), and the stream mouth of Lake Titicaca (station 3). Main physicochemical and bacteriological parameters were evaluated and a simplified water quality index was calculated. Unlike station 1, most parameters at stations 2 and 3 did not comply the standards, being significantly different from station 1 (p<0.05). At station 2, were elevated: electrical conductivity (1571.58±101.91 μS/cm), total suspended solids (128.69±89.67 mg/L), biological oxygen demand (10.04±2.03 mg/L), and fecal coliforms, with maximum values up to 12,000 MPN/100 mL. The quality index defined the waters at station 1 as good to excellent quality, station 2 as poor quality, and station 3 as medium to very poor quality. A total contaminant load of 1,101.4 kg/day is estimated to enter Titicaca from the stream, of which 88.5% corresponds to total suspended solids and 4.6% to biological oxygen demand. The Ranchopunko stream is highly contaminated from the section that crosses the town of Salcedo due to wastewater inflows.

pdf (Spanish)

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