The interaction of the Macacos Creek and a neighboring well field, in Juazeiro do Norte-Ceará, was assessed through chemical, physicochemical and bacteriological parameters. Oxygen -18 measurements were made for the identification of mixes from surface and underground waters. It was found that Macacos Creek water, with respect to most of the parameters analysed, does not conform to any of the classes for fresh water defined by CONAMA Resolution Nr.357 by the Ministry of Health. In this creek and in the Timbauba Lake the concentration of coliform and thermo-resistant bacteria is extremely high. MODFLOW / MODPATH modeling of advective contaminant transport from the creek to the wells showed minimum transit times between 15 and 100 days. Considering a half life of about 8 days for coliform bacteria in groundwater and their extremely high concentration in surface waters, contamination of the supply wells is inevitable.
Water quality aquifer contamination; advective transport simulation
