title: Assessment of drinking water contamination at springs along the road to Santiago (NW Spain).
abstract: With the aim of assessing the potability of drinking water, 31 different springs sited along the road to Santiago "The French Way" in Galicia (NW Spain) were studied. Twenty-one parameters, according to Spanish Legislation have been determined by Official Methods. It was observed that the parameters: pH, nitrate, ammonia, total coliforms, fecal coliforms and fecal streptococcus did not always comply with the levels established by Spanish Legislation. The bacteriological characters were the most restrictive of the sanitary quality of drinking water, only 19% of the springs were drinkable during all the study. According to the Factorial Analysis in Principal Component applied to the obtained results, it was concluded that the parameters: conductivity, hardness, dry residue, nitrate and fecal coliforms can be very indicative for assessing water sanitary quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Salgado
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez-López
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Melgar
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000032:analysis; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D009566:Nitrates / Q000032:analysis; D013030:Spain; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D014873:Water Pollutants; D000641:Ammonia