The Baixo Jaguaribe waterbasin has faced the installation of a growing number of shrimp farms along the Jaguaribe River, where there is no saline water interference. This work aims to show the chemical, physical-chemical and bacteriological characteristics of the inland shrimp farms continuous and harvest effluents, located in the Baixo Jaguaribe region, Ceará State, to discuss the possible impacts of these effluents in the water bodies and to suggest mitigating measures. It was analyzed water samples from the Jaguaribe river and the effluents of 2 tanks belonging to 2 different shrimp farms, during 1 production cycle. The parameters analyzed were: pH, turbidity, nitrate, total ammonia, electric conductivity, BOD5, total phosphorus, soluble phosphorus, total alkalinity, total solids, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, coliform organisms and chlorophylla. The harvest effluents, its was also analyzed DO and the fraction of sedimented solids. The results showed that although the continuous effluents complied with the legislation standards, in the harvest the values obtained from pH, total ammonia , suspended and settleable solids were higher than those allowed by the legislation. The total load resulting from the great volume drained by the shrimp farms contributes to a progressive deterioration of the water bodies quality in the region.
Shrimp farming; impact of effluents; Jaguaribe River
