Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The author reflects from a personal perspective on Tugendhat’s philosophy of Religion and points out some aspects of Tugendhat’s notions of Religion and mysticism.

This article aims to contribute to the applicability of the “Gate to Gate” Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) concept (that is to say, it analyzes the environmental impact from the moment the waste water enters the treatment plant until it exits) in the wastewater treatment plant of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, which has percolator filter technology. The applied ACV methodology aimed to identify and quantify the environmental impacts of four categories. Resulting in a generation of 0 MJ / m3 for the abiotic resources depletion category, 0,0336 kg eq PO−4/ m3 for eutrophication, 0,2563 kg eq CO2 / m3 for climate change and a pollutant load index (ICC ) of 56,21 for the pollution of pollutant loads to a receiving body category. Finally, it is proposed to make use of biogas and treated water and sludge sub-products in order to minimize the environmental impact generated by the waste water treatment of the university city.

The tertiary treatment of wastewater from the facultative pond effluent through the use of tilapia fry is an alternative for reuse and maximum utilization of wastewater. In this article, the performance of a pond system with tilapia fry Oreochromis niloticus in series for the treatment of the effluent of the facultative ponds of the Arturo Pazos treatment plant was evaluated at pilot scale. The system constructed at the exit of the facultative lagoons consisted of three ponds in series; each of them with 25 tilapia fry and with a hydraulic retention time of 75 minutes. The evaluation was performed in the dry season on a fortnightly basis, obtaining a total of 32 samples of the removal efficiency generated by tilapia. The percentages of removal of physical characteristics, total solids and dissolved oxygen, ranged from 3,7% to 12,5%; the content of DQO and DBO5 reached an average removal of almost 10,0%. On the other hand the removal efficiencies obtained in parameters such as fecal coliforms, hydrogen potential, total phosphorus and total nitrogen were: 6,0%, 3,5%, 7,9% and 4,5%, respectively. With only three ponds of tilapia fry and with the effluent of the lagoons even without optimum removal efficiencies, it can be seen that the proposed tertiary treatment presents relatively low removal results, however tilapia can be implemented as a bioindicator capable of surviving in these waters in process of treatment.

The main investigated aquifer in the Suquiapa constitute the formation fractured lavas San Salvador or recent upper Pleistocene. Scattered in the study area 28 deep wells suggest the existence of permeable layers, which consist of alternating layers of clastic material alluvial and fractured lavas located at depths greater than 100 m. The main recharge area (45 Km2) constitutes the volcanic complex recent lavas of Santa Ana. Another very important fact that has been confirmed is the existence of two aquifers, the shallow aquifer is between 25 and 40 meters deep and the lower aquifer located approximately 80 to 120 meters deep. The hydraulic gradient varies from 0.01 to 0.026; storativity 0.001 to 0.1; transmissivity varies greatly, being, greater than 25000 m2/d and other very low, less than 100 m2 / d very high values. The infiltration rate shows a marked difference between the southern area (near the volcano) with average values of 1.42 m / d; corresponding to sandy loam soils and the northern part (near the river Suquiapa) with average values of 0.10 m / d, associated with clay loam soils. Three hydrogeological units are recognized: fissured aquifer, porous aquifer and rocks of low aquifer importance; also a surface aquifer with a depth between 20 and 50 meters and a deeper aquifer about 100 meters deep. Applying the methodology Schosinsky, a water refill potential 71,8x106 m3 / year in an area of 140 km2 is determined.

This article talks about the evaluation of the rain water quality captured and stored by the MOSAFARI (by its acronym in Spanish) installed in ERIS´ pilot plant “Arturo Pazos” located in Guatemala City. The evaluation showed that the water quality fulfill COGUANOR 29 001 (as its acronym in Spanish) requirements as long as the cleaning step keep soil and leaves out of the ceiling and channel. According to the maximum admissible limit of COGUANOR 29 001, the color fails since the first sample with a result of 25 units Pt-Co because of the accumulation of leaves and soil that the system had since the initial cleaning step. The next results keep increasing as the time without cleaning does too. The other parameters fulfill COGUANOR 29 001 requirements as almost all the sampling period, and only manganese goes out of the maximum admissible limit in the last sample with a result of 0.1 mg/L.

The present article deals with the research carried out in the municipio of San Pedro la Laguna, department of Sololá. In order to obtain information on the quality of groundwater. This article presents the three forms of nitrogen studied, which are: nitrates, nitrites and ammonia. This study pretends to know the relationship between them and their behavior in rainy season and in dry season. Based on the information analyzed, it was determined that nitrate is the predominant form of nitrogen, which increases their concentrations in dry season and samples from the majority of analyzed wells exceed 50 mg/L of nitrates which is equivalent to 11.30 mg/L of nitrates in the form of nitrogen and are in a range between 64.97 mg/L and 506.00 mg/L. It was also determined that the concentrations of ammonia have an increase in rainy season especially in the two wells located in the coffee planting zone, being the sample of one of the two nearby wells, the one of greater relevance with a concentration of 377.50 mg/L presented in rainy season. Concentrations of nitrates and ammonia can cause health problems to children that consumed this kind of water

This article pretends to raise awareness of the trophic state of the lagoon of Calderas, according to the analysis and results obtained in a 2011 analysis. These analysis was carried out with respect to the level of Total Nitrogen that is dissolved in water, and in accordance with the Nürnberg and Sweden criteria. The trophic state of the Lagoon is Oligotrophic. According to the Nürnberg and Sweden criteria to classify a body of water as oligotrophic, the provided limit, with respect to total nitrogen, must be less than 0.35mg/L and 0.40mg/L respectively. After completing all the correspondent analyses, the total nitrogen level obtained in the laboratory was 0.33 mg/L, which reveals a low concentration of nutrients. Consequently, the water in the lagoon could be reutilized if treated properly, as the level of total Nitrogen is lower than that stablished in the Governmental Agreement 236-2006 “Regulation for Discharge and Reuse of Wastewater and Sewage Disposition,” that states that the permissible water reuse maximum limit for total nitrogen is 10 mg/L

This article deals with the vulnerability to contamination of the Sébaco valley aquifer, Nicaragua with a study area of 263 km2, using the DRASTIC method created by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Aller et al., 1987). The DRASTIC method is a tool that allows us to make maps of vulnerability to identify which areas of the aquifer are susceptible to contamination or can be adversely affected by a contaminant regardless of the type of agent. This method depends on seven hydrogeological parameters described below; 1) Depth of groundwater, with ranges ranging from 3 - 30 meters. 2) net recharge, where the average annual recharge from the rains is of the order of 70 mm. 3 and 4) mean of the aquifer and the impact of vadose zone, of the geology present in the aquifer, as well as data of lithological records. 5) type of soil, with vertisols in an area 209.7 km2, 79.7% of the surface of the aquifer. 6) topographic slope coming from 5 – 80 % and 7) hydraulic conductivity where the predominant range in the aquifer is the conductivity between 10-30 m / day.Based on the analysis of the obtained information, the variables evaluated were reclassified according to the DRASTIC methodology, establishing the ranges of high, moderate and low vulnerability to pollution, with a moderate vulnerability to pollution in the aquifer of the Sébaco valley of 138 km2, 52 % of the surface of the aquifer, located in the central part of the valley. The low vulnerability to contamination of the aquifer lies in the Northwest and Nor-east, corresponding to 49 km2, 19 % of the surface of the aquifer. The zone of high vulnerability to pollution, with 76 km2, 29 % of the surface of the aquifer located to the south-east and at the ends of the aquifer.

In the higher part of the Pixcayá river basin, there is an increase in areas used for agricultural activities (without soil conservation practices) in areas with slopes not suitable for agriculture, which causes water erosion, which implies loss or degradation of the soils by the draggingt of sediments towards the bodies of water. In the present article, the production of sediments resulting from the change of land use, based on the modified equation of loss of soil MUSLE by its acronym in English, applying Geographic Information Systems -GIS-. Land use data from 2003 and 2012 were used. The results indicate that, for the years studied, in the upper part of the Pixcayá river basin, agricultural areas increased by 6.90 km2 and areas populated by 4.87 km2 and that sediment production increased by 61%, from two hundred and thirty-five thousand tons in 2003 to three hundred and eighty-six thousand tons in 2012. In the watershed of the Pixcayá river land use has a direct relationship with the production of sediments, as it influences the variation of the number of curve (proportion of water drained for a given area) and factor C (the resistance offered by soil cover to erosion).

With the problems of water in terms of: scarcity, irrational use, pollution, among others; governments and organizations are seeking ways to reduce this situation, requiring policies and laws for better management of water resources, however, a policy or law will not be enough if there is no willingness to act in situ in each river basin . Water resources need efficient management, based on the knowledge of their availability based on the analysis of supply and demand. In the present article, water availability was evaluated in the Sucio river basin unit, located in basin 64, in the Pacific zone of Nicaragua, as a starting point for water resources planning in the basin. The estimation of the water supply was done by applying the surface water balance, applying the Thornthwaite (1948) and soil water balance methodology, based on the methodology of Schosinsky and Losilla (2000); the water demand was determined by identifying the different uses in the basin. In the supply and demand analysis, it was determined that the basin generates flows of 165 Mm³ per year of surface water and 131 Mm³ of groundwater recharge, the demand was estimated at 153 Mm³ per year; estimating that of the water uses in the basin there is a return flow of 22 Mm³ annually and a discharge of groundwater to other basins of 19 Mm³ annually, it was determined that the net water availability is 151 Mm³ annually, however, it is considered that availability is not constant during a hydrological year, since it is affected in the dry season with a deficit of 4 to 9 Mm³ per year in surface water and 8 to 9 Mm³ in groundwater. It should be noted that, in consultation with the records of water use concessions granted by the National Water Authority in the basin, water withdrawals occur in dry season (November to April); In this period, the supply is lower than the demand, sustains the production of water, is the contribution of the aquifer to the rivers and underground reserves, which puts at risk the sustainability of water resources, which will be depleted over time and the result could be catastrophic