The Effectiveness of the “Non-Domestic Effluent Reception and Monitoring Program” in Promoting Ecosystem Water Security in Uberlândia, Brazil

Abstract

Water security, which balances water supply and demand, has become crucial due to scarcity, population growth, and poor land-use planning, factors that intensify water stress and effluent loads. In Uberlândia, PREMEND (Non-Domestic Effluent Reception and Monitoring Program) was created to reduce industrial effluent pollution and protect the Uberabinha River. Given this context, this study sought to identify the concrete effects of the standards developed to promote water security in the face of the challenges imposed on municipal management. In this sense, this study evaluated the program in three phases: temporal analysis of adherence and flow, collection of water and effluent samples, and evaluation of treatment efficiency (through Water Quality Index and Water Security Classification). The results showed that PREMEND, since its creation in 2012, boosted adherence and collections at the beginning of the analyzed period. The efficiency of effluent treatment has remained within acceptable limits, with the best results in the middle of the period. However, the water quality of the Uberabinha River showed changes between the points upstream and downstream of the effluent discharge, and the increase in adherence over the years did not improve water quality, with no notable differences between the rainy and dry seasons.