This paper deals with the chemical composition of water from deep and shallow wells and water-holes near a refuse tip in the city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Turbidity, pH, Eh, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and the elements Cl, F, Si, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Al, As, Mn, P, Sb, Ba, Cr, Fe, Se, Sn, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were analysed at the end of the rainy season and in the dry period in 18 wells. In almost all wells, the water was no longer suitable for human consumption due to high contents of Al, Fe, As, Cd, Pb, Sb and Se, nitrogen compounds and local contaminations by Mn and Zn. The contamination plume, which expands at the end of the rainy season, extends to the east and southeast of the refuse tip on account of the natural directions of the aquifer flow and the potentiometric low level generated by the stream flow cutting through the area.
aluminium; ammonia; antimony; aquifers; arsenic; barium; cadmium; calcium; chemical composition; chloride; chromium; copper; drinking water; dry season; electrical conductivity; fluoride; groundwater pollution; iron; lead; magnesium; manganese; nitrate; nitrite; pH; phosphorus; polluted water; potassium; refuse tips; selenium; silicon; sodium; stream flow; turbidity; waste disposal; water flow; water pollution; water quality; water use; wells; wet season; zinc; Amazonas; Brazil; South America; America; Developing Countries; Threshold Countries; Latin America; aluminum; garbage dumps; hydrogen ion concentration; Mn; potential of hydrogen; rainy season; rubbish dumps; trash dumps; water composition and quality; Water Resources (PP200); Pollution and Degradation (PP600); Human Wastes and Refuse (XX300)