DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW-COST KIT FOR THE ANALYSIS OF IRRIGATION WATER QUALITY IN RURAL BOLIVIAN COMMUNITIES

Abstract

In the community of La Maica, the last agricultural area in the municipality of Cochabamba, Bolivia, it has been shown that the irrigation water used is not of adequate quality. This situation can have a direct effect on crops and on the quality of agricultural soil, affect surface and groundwater bodies, and affect the health of farmers and consumers. Thus, the deficiency of crop productivity has generated in recent years an increase in the vulnerability of the population in the area. Therefore, in order to better manage irrigation water, the objective of the project was to develop with the community an affordable kit to perform analysis of the main physicochemical characteristics of wáter with natural pigments and locally available materials. After pigment selection, the designed tests were subjected to an analytical validation and a calibration phase of the kit by farmers. The accuracy, sensitivity, relative specificity, reproducibility and repeatability of the kit were determined. Thus, the kit designed allows the analysis of five chemical parameters of water with natural pigments and one biological parameter.