Cleanup of lake Titicaca to start in November - Peru

In November or December this year, the Peruvian side of lake Titicaca will start to use microorganisms or "good" bacteria to decontaminate the lake, under a proposal designed by the local Universidad Nacional del Altiplano (UNA), state news agency Andina reported.

The dean of UNA's agrarian science faculty, Luis Alfredo Palao Iturregui, said the university is carrying out a series of studies that will finish in August, following which the process can begin.

The project would use Japanese effective microorganisms (EM) technology, which consists of placing good bacteria in a body of water to gradually eliminate the toxic microorganisms.

The technology has already been successfully used in other countries such as Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Kenya, China and Japan, as well as in coastal projects in Peru.

Colombia, for example, has 19 organic waste treatment plants in the departments of Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Huila, Antioquia, Caldas, Santander and Meta, all of which use the EM technology.

Lake Titicaca is contaminated by sewage and waste from treatment plants discharged directly into its waters, as well as tailings from mining operations which flow from the Suches and Ramis rivers into the lake.

The EM proposal would start treatment of the sewage before it reaches the lake, to free the wastewater from toxic components.

"The first part of the cleanup project will be carried out as a pilot project in the artificial lagoon, opposite the city's pier, in November or December. Later, the microorganisms will be released into the stabilization pond where the wastewater flows into the lake," Palao Iturregui said.

Afterwards, the microorganisms will be released in other parts of the lake.

Business News Americas

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