Quito's local water supply

Rationale-
This research project depicts the various characteristics of Quito’s aquifer. Quito is Ecuador’s capital, it has an estimated population of 1 399 378 inhabitants, and it is located between mountains in the Andes Cordillera.
The purpose of this project will be to gather information about the potable water network, its characteristics, distribution and the effects of pollution onthe community. For this I will be looking at various aspects of water and its distribution in Quito’s municipality, which is depicted in the graph below

Characteristics-
There are 2 basins known as South and Center-North basins. Currently, pumping of aquifer wells has ceased and the project is functioning through natural recharge. Because of this, there has been a higher storage of theresource, and great volumes of underground water have caused the water levels rise to the surface.
Underground water has been exploited since 1940 with over 130 wells of up to 180 meters depth, all with the purpose of serving potable water to the Metropolitan District of Quito (Inaqui 7).
The valley where Quito’s aquifer is located is within a complex geodynamic surrounding, where volcanic deposits,tectonics and erosion interact, generating one of the most stratigraphically complex river basins.
The Machangara and Cangahua formations, and the La Carolina deposit make up the hydro-geologic basin as well as the filling of the zone that embodies Quito’s aquifer. The rocks within the basic are a group of andesitic lavas with sub horizontal fractures interfaced with pyroclastic flows. The riverbasin’s filling is made up with volcano sedimentary products, deposited in different areas.
Quito’s fault is located in a zone that extends from north to south and reaches a structure in the shape of a horse’s tail known as the Botadero Faults. This group of faults generates uprisings along the southwest-northeast direction known as the uprisings of Ilumbisi-Puengasi; Batan-La Bota andCalderon-Catequilla.
Quito’s Center North aquifer has been characterized as a unique multilayered aquifer that has two levels with good hydrologic characteristics, which are interrelated since almost all the sediments present are permeable.
The medium depth of the piezometric level of the waters, at present, varies between 5 and 17m, reaching 43 m in the airport zone (Inaqui 9).
Exploration Reserves-The natural resources (exploration reserves) accumulated since 1991 and those that arrive at the storage zones from the infiltration zones were estimated to reach the following magnitudes:
Deposits Resources
Quito l / seconds m3 / day m3 / year
North 385.8 33 333.12 12 166 588.8
Center 380.5 32 875.20 11 999 448
South 407.1 35 173.44 12 838 305.6
[Table (Inaqui 2)]
Pollution-
Te cityis located in the central part of the Andes Cordillera and is characterized for being surrounded by five active volcanoes. The territory of the aquifer takes up a total area of 275 km2 and coincides with the areas occupied by the city, which extends for an approximated length of 30 km (197).
Risk of contamination-
The risk of contamination and degradation of the horizons of the aquifer in thestorage areas is limited to the layers that are found at little depth from the terrain’s surface, up to about 20-30 m, this is due to the fact that at greater depth there are layers of low permeability because of its lithology. Parallel to this process, the existing pressures above 10 atmospheres impede the deep aquifers’ contamination in the storage zones.
In the infiltration zones,specifically in the Pichincha laterals, between the levels 2800 and 3800 m.a.s.l, any type of fluid pilled over the terrain or solid that can dissolve with rain water can infiltrate and reach the storage zones, with which even the deeper aquifers can contaminate. In these areas, human development conspires against the feeding properties of the aquifers, at medium and long term diminishing considerably its...