Multibiomarker in fish to evaluate a river used to water public supply

•Multibiomarkers in fish are useful tools to verify the water quality in rivers.•Caffeine was found in the water chemical analyses.•Anticholinesterasic and oxidant agents can be present in the water.•Results indicate a concern to aquatic biota and human population. We aimed to evaluate the ecological integrity of a large river, which receives agricultural and urban effluents and is used to water public supply. The fish species Astyanax bifasciatus was used as bioindicator during winter and spring 2012, and summer 2013 at the Middle Iguaçu River basin in Paraná state, Brazil. Water chemical and physical measures and ecotoxicological tests were carried out as well biochemical and genetic biomarkers in sampled fish in each period. The studied area was divided in three sample points: SP1, located where the water is collected to public supply; SP2, located in an urbanized area, and SP3, located at an urbanized area with the discharge of the sewage treatment. Although water chemical and physical analyzes were range of the Brazilian law to hydric bodies, anticholinesterasic effects were found in winter, oxidative stress in summer and spring. The higher genotoxic effect was in winter to all sample points. The temporal variation in biomarkers and the detection of caffeine in the water call attention to the water quality in this river mainly to be used to public supply.