COMPARATIVO ENTRE CUSTOS OPERACIONAIS NA POTABILIZAÇÃO DE ÁGUAS SUPERFICIAIS E SUBTERRÂNEAS EM PEQUENAS CIDADES

Water is an element of great need for the maintenance of life, and is also considered the most abundant compound on our planet, occupying approximately 70% of its surface. However, 97% of this water is salty and therefore improper or with great difficulty to make it potable for human consumption. Less than 3 percent of the world's water is fresh, 2.5 percent of which is in glaciers, and the 0.5 percent remaining of the world's water, located in surface or underground aquifers. Nowadays, underground springs, due to the quality of raw water that usually low qualitative variability, have been considerate as a good alternative as a source of drinking water, especially in communities that have unavailability or need to increase their current treatment systems, usually only superficial, as new sources of raw water. Thus, this paper will present results obtained from an economic analysis of drinking water treatment costs for cities located within the territory of the state of Minas Gerais and with a population of less than 5,000 inhabitants. Analyzes were performed by comparing monthly labor and electricity costs in water treatment systems with different types of springs, surface and underground.