Colombian water sources polluted by car-washgenerated sludge

Abstract

The fact that Colombian hydric sources, despite their great importance, can contain microorganisms, led this study to categorize sludge from car wash, because this activity results in high volume of residual water that fluctuates, according to wash demand, between 0.5 and 1.0lt/sec. Detergents, fats, oil, fuels and sediment, among many others, produce very high pollution levels. A three-period experimental design carried out taking random samples of sludge found presence of Salmonella, somatic phages, helminth eggs and fecal coliforms coming from three car wash locations around metropolitan Bucaramanga, Colombia. Sludge analyzed was classified as category B, apt for different uses in forest plantations, as precursor material in production of construction materials, and energy-valorization processes.