Non-potable water for consumption in the Horticulture of La Plata (Buenos Aires). Causes, consequences and alternatives

Abstract

The peri-urban region of La Plata stands out in the production by small family farmers of fresh vegetables. Within the framework of the problems of habitat and health, a series of symptomatologies are observed that affect both the producers / workers and their families -mainly the children who live there- as well as the consumers of the horticultural products. These symptomologies have as their main source the utilizationof non-potable water. The work aims to determine the type and magnitude of water pollution, identify the causes thereof and evaluate technological alternatives that solve the present problem. The results indicate that a complex problem, such as the one proposed, requires technological solutions to be accompanied by political actions that modify the structural conditions of the producers' lives in the La Plata horticultural belt.