The susceptibility to pollution of groundwater occurring in a paper production area: Rio Claro (SP), Brazil

This investigation was carried out at Rio Claro city, São Paulo State, Brazil, and involved the study of an area of a local industry dedicated to paper production. The study was held as a requirement of CETESB (São Paulo State Company of Technology and Environmental Sanitation) that is the environmental agency of São Paulo State responsible for the control, fiscalization, monitoring and licensing of the activities that may cause pollution, with the major aim of preserving and recovering the quality of water, air and soil. The paper production involves the generation of solid waste where leaching may cause the release of liquids that are able to pollute the groundwater. Thus, it is necessary to know the basic properties of the soil cover where there is the intention to put the solid waste in order to evaluate its susceptibility to groundwater pollution. The evaluation of the selected site involved several steps, among them the knowledge of the climatic conditions and rainfall rate, characterization of the geological formations and of the soil types occurring between the ground surface and water table, water table depth and determination of the hydraulic conductivity coefficient. This paper describes all activities developed for attending the CETESB requirements. © 2014 WIT Press.