The present study aims to evaluate the water quality of the Bezerra River, municipality of
Arraias/TO, considering the influence of the mining activity of phosphate exploration in
relation to the springs inserted in the area object of study. Therefore, this work promoted a
consolidation of data through the application of statistical methods, principal components
analysis (PCA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA), for the treatment of historical monitoring
results covering the Bezerra river basin, as well as the auxiliary application of water quality
indicators. Through PCA, the first 4 principal components represented just over 70% of the
total variance of the data. By ANOVA, it was indicated that at least one of the interactions
between the groups analyzed in promoted spatial and temporal scale had a significant
difference. Significant differences were also observed between the sampling campaigns
conducted before and after the operational start of the mining enterprise in the study area. The
indices applied in the analysis indicated, in general, intermediate trophic conditions in most of
the sampled points and still satisfactory conditions for the water quality of the springs, despite
relevant observations detected in relation to some of the parameters analyzed for the
environment, with emphasis on the Total Phosphorus concentrations detected in the Bezerra
River. It is concluded from the study carried out that there was significant interference of the
enterprise on the quality of the water in the region, however, the monitored water resources
are still in acceptable conditions regarding the quality of their waters.
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