Author(s): Ana Paula Montenegro Generino
Email (s): ana.generino@ana.gov.br
Institution or organization of origin: National Water and Sanitation Agency – ANA
Country: Brazil
Abstract
To monitor the recovery of the Doce river basin after the collapse of the tailings dam from Fundão mining, located in Mariana, Minas Gerais/Brazil, the Program for Quali-Quantitative Monitoring of Water and Sediments of the Doce River – PMQQS was developed. This program is provided for the Term of Conduct Adjustment Transaction between the Union, the impacted states and the companies responsible for the dam. To manage the implementation of the PMQQS the Technical Monitoring Group – TMG was created, composed of technicians from federal and state environmental and water resources institutions. The main goal of the TMG is to make sure PMQQS provides realiable data. So, the TMG stipulated scientific validation criteria and qualification of the data, recording them in Technical Notes. A qualifier is defined as a criterion that evaluates the consistency of the data from: equations that relate groups of parameters, considering mass balance and load balance; historical series; results obtained by the laboratory on proficiency tests; and characteristics of the environment. Qualifiers do not invalidate the data, but identify anomalous values. This process consists of applying the evaluated data to the validation criteria and, if this data meets the validation criteria, applying the criteria of qualification. At the end of the validation and qualification process, three types of data will be obtained: invalid data and valid data unmarked /marked by qualifiers. This process represents an important instrument to improve the reliability of the data made available, improving the quality of data from water resources’ monitoring.