The conceptions of quality, potability and water treatment in the early days of the city of Belo Horizonte

Abstract

In this article, we sought to address the discourses and conceptions about the quality, potability, and methods of treatment of the waters of Belo Horizonte, from the choice of the site for headquarters of the new capital of the mining state, until 1917, when the city completed two decades of its inauguration. Several documents have been analyzed regarding water quality and the parameters used for this classification, as well as the methods used or indicated for its treatment. The report of the Commission in charge of studying the Places Indicated for the New Capital, as well as the collection of the Commission responsible for its construction, the reports of the mayors, and some reports of the press were all considered here. From 1911, with the installation of the State Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, attention was paid to the results of analyses of drinking water of the capital and to the recommendations for the improvement of its quality, made by the German chemist Alfred Schaeffer, hired in his country by the state government to head the laboratory. At the time of the construction of Belo Horizonte and the implementation and development of its water supply system, there already was scientific evidence in favor of the use of filters, flocculating substances for the decantation of solids, and even the use of ozone for water treatment, although they were not used at such an early date.