Thiago Luiz Ferreira,Joyce Frade Rios,Rodolfo Carvalho Salgado Penido,Laura Bahia Vidigal , Fundação Estadual do Meio Ambiente - FEAM, Gerência de Saneamento, thiagosevenlakes@yahoo.com.br
ABSTRACT
The environmental impacts on the Velhas river watershed, related to ground occupation and its usages and, more specifically, related to municipal sewage effluent and the impacts from its discharge in aquatic environment, are more troublesome in this watershed, if compared to others watersheds in Minas Gerais, since it is the area with the largest municipal sewage effluent generation in the state. In this context, this work intends to add the efforts applied to identify the necessities to enlarge and improve the sewerage systems existent in this watershed, since it updates data related to the “Plano Diretor de Recursos Hídricos da Bacia do Rio das Velhas”. Therefore, a research was made about the sanitary situation in the Velhas river watershed, by visiting all towns within the Velhas river watershed and its sewerage systems. Beyond that, meetings were held with competent institutions to gather more information. The research revealed the precariousness of the sewerage system of some towns and the urgent necessity of implementing new measures to conserve and improve the quality of water in the watershed.
KEY WORDS: Sewage; Velhas river; diagnostic