Calidad del agua captada de la niebla para consumo humano en la comunidad Los Verdes, Chota – Perú

The study aimed to determine the quality of water collected from fog for human consumption in the Los Verdes community, Chota district and province, Cajamarca. The research was basic, descriptive-comparative level, cross-sectional, and non-experimental in design. The population consisted of water collected using three fog meters designed by Pilar Cereceda and Pablo Osses. Twelve samples were obtained at three monitoring points over a four-month period (November 2023 to February 2024), following DIGESA guidelines. The results were compared with the maximum permissible limits established in D.S. No. 031-2010-SA, recording the following ranges: temperature from 13.10 to 14.20 °C; turbidity from 2.23 to 3.11 NTU; pH from 7.01 to 7.70; Conductivity of 25.3 to 35.8 µS/cm; color of 7.7 to 15.8 UCV; total dissolved solids of 15 to 26 mg/L; chlorides of 0.314 to 0.725 mg/L; sulfates of 0.130 to 0.430 mg/L; phosphates of 0.035 to 0.948 mg/L. In the bacteriological analysis, total coliforms of 4.0 to 350 NMP/100 mL, thermotolerant coliforms and Escherichia coli of 2.0 to 27 NMP/100 mL were reported. It is concluded that the physicochemical and bacteriological quality of the water collected from the fog is not suitable for direct human consumption, since the color and coliform parameters exceed the values ​​established in Peruvian regulations, a situation attributed to contamination by bird droppings in the fog meters.