Preliminary assessment of the presence of emerging

pollutants in water used for irrigation in the western

Bogota Savanna
Pablo CUBIDES1, Martha BUSTOS1, Ana BOTERO COY2, Felix HERNANDEZ2
1Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2Instituto de Plaguicidas y Aguas, IUPA, Spain

Abstract Methods and Materials

This study shows preliminary results on the presence of emerging contaminants in Samples were taken at the 10 points shown in Figure 3 in order to determine the
the irrigation water used in western Bogota Savanna, specifically in the Ramada. quality of the water used for irrigation. BOD, COD, sedimented solids and coliforms
There, 10 sites (Fig. 3) were selected to collect the samples on November 2016. were determined.
Analyses were made by LC-MS/MS with triple quadrupole at IUPA, University in
Castelln, Spain. The samples were extracted in solid phase and sent to Spain to be analyzed by LC-
MS/MS with triple quadrupole at IUPA, University in Castelln, Spain the results are
In total, 28 pharmaceuticals were determined, and 14 of them were found in the shown in table 1
samples analysed. In all the sampling sites, the compounds clarithromycin,
carbamazepine and losartan were found. Additionally, it is worth mentioning the
presence of azithromycin in 9 out of 10 sites at concentrations over 2 ug L-1.
6
Another relevant point was that those sites receiving wastewater discharges from 1
the nearby household were the ones that contained the greatest number of 7
0 4
pharmaceuticals, including several antibiotics such as azytromicin, claritromycin, 2
3
clindamycin and eritromycin.
8
5

Figure 3. Sample points in the Bogota Savanna PTAR Effluent Irrigation water

Results and Discussion

As the preliminary study have shown, irrigation water used in Bogota Savanna in
the Ramada zone is highly polluted especially by fecal coliforms and different
compounds for personal use call the attention the presence of antibiotics.

Table 1. Presence in sampled waters of pharmacological substances

Figure 1. Irrigation water used in the Bogota Savanna Compound / point. 8 9 3 1 2 6 7 0 4 5

Acetaminophen - - 43 - 1011 - - 833 - -

Introduction
Azithromycin 2407 2403 2483 2365 2322 2355 2152 - 2239 2388
In the western part of the Bogota Savanna, land is used for agricultural purposes,
especially to grow vegetables. In these crops, irrigation is done using water from Carbamazepine 10 9 23 18 16 16 15 34 19 15
Bogota river. However, this irrigation process can be very dangerous for both
consumers and farmers. In the hydraulic system for flooding and environmental Ciprofloxacin 1115 1116 1116 - 1120 - - 1130 - -
control in La Ramada district, water is distributed by irrigation canals which also Clarithromycin 32 31 25 24 24 28 22 431 28 26
receive wastewater from nearby houses (Corporacin Autonoma Regional de
Cundinamarca, 2010). Under this conditions, it is considered as public interest to Clindamycin 11 7 28 19 5 19 17 - 23 15
study irrigation water quality. Focus will be pointed especially towards the so-called
Diclofenac - - 109 47 - - - 117 - -
emerging pollutants, due to the little information available for this topic. However,
some authors have already confirmed presence of emerging pollutants in these Erythromycin 22 22 23 22 22 22 22 78 22 22
crops (Hernndez et al., 2015).
Irbesartan <LOQ - 7 4 3 5 3 43 5 4
Figure 2, Results obtained from water analysis in 2015 Losartan 279 206 490 418 391 278 298 1564 357 178
1,50 OXIGENO DISUELTO
1,00
Metronidazole - - - 4 66 - - - - -
mg/l

0,50

0,00
Estacion
Chicu
Entrada
Cienaga
Salida
Cienaga
Canal B
(Diamante)
Canal C
SENA
Canal
Tibaitata
Canal San
Jose (LP)
Canal San
Jose (VM)
Canal Tabaco Rio Bogota
(Tabaco)
Sulfamethoxazole 10 9 28 27 20 17 15 967 27 9

1000
CONDUCTIVIDAD
Trimethoprim - - - - <LOQ 153 - -
800
uS/cm

600
400
Valsartan - <LOQ 28 20 25 21 22 229 28 <LOQ
200
0

Conclusions
Estacion Entrada Salida Canal B Canal C Canal Canal San Canal San Canal Tabaco Rio Bogota
Chicu Cienaga Cienaga (Diamante) SENA Tibaitata Jose (LP) Jose (VM) (Tabaco)

Microbiological Results (2015) CT UFC/100 mL CF /100 mL The monitoring carried out indicates that the water quality problems used for
irrigation in the area persist, especially the bacterial content.
1.00E+08

1.00E+04
The presence of compounds of personal use in the waters especially antibiotics was
1.00E+00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 evidenced.

Contact Ch.Eng. cM.Sc. Pablo Andrs Cubides G. References

Universidad Nacional de Colombia 1. Hernndez, F., Ibez, M., Botero-Coy, A. M., Bade, R., Bustos-Lpez, M. C., Rincn, J., Bijlsma, L. (2015).
Email: pacubidesg@gmail.com LC-QTOF MS screening of more than 1,000 licit and illicit drugs and their metabolites in wastewater and
Website: surface waters from the area of Bogot, Colombia. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 407(21), 6405
6416.
Phone: +573107601252