Water quality mathematical model applied in the watershed of the river Tabacay

Abstract

Water is nowadays one of most valued natural resources; maintaining its quality is currently one of the main objectives
of the public administrations that exert control over it. For this purpose, some tools such as water quality models have
been created in order to allow a proper management of this resource. A water quality model has been developed for the
Tabacay micro river basin because of its high social and institutional value, as it is the only water provision source for the
city of Azogues and is subjected to high pollution levels caused by livestock, agriculture and lack of sanitation systems. To
develop the model, the free software of the US Environmental Protection Agency called Water Quality Analysis Simulation
Program (WASP) is used. In order to achieve the final model development, the available information of water quality, as
well as water flow and geometry of the area are analyzed and evaluated; the parameters and constants to be used in the
simulations are established depending on the system being analyzed, in the first results, variations of the simulated values
with respect to the measured ones were observed, which is why the use of techniques for the depuration of water quality
models applied to Ecuadorian Andean areas are suggested, with the intent of reducing the error degree in the simulations,
by means of the application of new studies for determining the appropriate parameters and methodologies that allow to
attain models which can be applicable to these areas.