Assessment of Animal Drinking Water Quality in Livestock Farms in Galapagos Islands

The purpose of this research was to determine the quality of water for bovine consumption on livestock farms in the El Progreso parish - Galapagos by applying a quality index following the Brown methodology proposed by the National Sanitation Foundation of the United States. Information was collected from the livestock farms through a socio-environmental diagnosis of the area, where five localities were considered: San Joaquín, Las Goteras, Cerro Verde, Puerto Chino and El Progreso from which fifteen livestock farms were selected for the respective sampling of the sources. of water. Therefore, nine parameters were considered for the analysis of the respective water sources: pH, TDS, Fecal Coliforms, electrical conductivity, hardness, nitrites, phosphates, temperature and turbidity. Of the total livestock farms monitored, three of them presented a rating of Good quality in a range of 70 to 90, while the remaining farms recorded values with a Medium classification, which are those that recorded AQI values between 51 to 70 according to the criteria established by the NSF. This research highlights the importance of frequently carrying out analyzes of the water sources from which cattle drink to determine the quality of the resource, and also provide technical advice to ranchers in the area on the management and cleaning of the reservoirs. El propósito de esta investigación fue determinar la calidad del agua para consumo bovino en fincas ganaderas de la parroquia El Progreso-Galápagos mediante la aplicación de un índice de calidad siguiendo la metodología de Brown propuesta por la Fundación Nacional de Saneamiento de Estados Unidos. Se recolectó información de las fincas ganaderas mediante un diagnóstico socioambiental de la zona, donde se consideraron cinco localidades: San Joaquín, Las Goteras, Cerro Verde, Puerto Chino y El Progreso, de las cuales se seleccionaron quince fincas ganaderas para el respectivo muestreo de las fuentes de agua. Por lo tanto, se consideraron nueve parámetros para el análisis de las respectivas fuentes de agua: pH, TDS, Coliformes Fecales, conductividad eléctrica, dureza, nitritos, fosfatos, temperatura y turbidez. Del total de fincas ganaderas monitoreadas, tres de ellas presentaron una calificación de Buena calidad en un rango de 70 a 90, mientras que las fincas restantes registraron valores con una clasificación Media, que son aquellas que registraron valores de ICA entre 51 a 70 según los criterios establecidos por la NSF. Esta