Importance of Macroscopic Environmental Analysis for Spring Preservation Used for Human Consumption

The lack and deterioration of the quality of water resources have made governments take educational measures and required society to rethink habits concerning the preservation and conservation of water quality. Thus, the present study aims to present the importance of spring preservation for water quality conservation as well as to develop a macroscopic environmental analysis of springs located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Twenty springs were observed in two different periods of the year (May and November 2019), which had different economic activities: native forest – public domain; soybean, tobacco, and pig farming – private domain, in their surroundings. The study adopted five replications (different municipalities), and a macroscopic environmental analysis was carried out in each spring to classify them according to the extent of preservation. It was observed that most of the springs show “Good” and “Very good” preservation. However, it can be concluded that the economic activities developed in the surroundings do not interfere with spring preservation, and the methodology adopted is not recommended for the macroscopic environmental analysis in areas of native forest due to the characteristics considered.