Committed to the environment

The foul odors, pollution, and dead animals in the Botello River have been the subject of constant complaints from the community. However, pollution is not the only concern; the municipality's water supply has also been a source of worry. For this reason, the Water Company in Facatativá and students from the Environmental Engineering program conducted a study to assess the river's condition and develop strategies to protect the environment.

Geraldine Hernández, Marly Pérez, Luisa Fernanda Medina, Angie Tatiana Pineda and Daniel Merchán, are the students from UCundinamarca who, with the Aguas de Facatativá Company, carried out the characterization of 2.5 km of the Botello River, from the La Selva village (El Tauro Rosario property) to the entrance of the municipality's reservoir system.

This important work will help the company provide better service, and thus the community will gradually have better water quality. “The biotic, topographic, hydraulic, land use, water quality, and supply well characterization were carried out within the framework of the business practice module, with support from the University Social Interaction Office of the Environmental Engineering program,” stated Daniel Robledo, one of the professors who accompanied this process.

Juan Tocancipá, a technician from the Water Company's Operational Sub-Management, responsible for directing and supporting environmental training processes, stated, "This work allowed us to identify the sources of pollution caused by activities surrounding the Botello River, enabling us to do our job well, which is to supply and provide water suitable for human consumption.".

According to a report published in the environmental magazine Vecinos de Facatativá, residents made several complaints about the bad smells emanating from the Botello River due to the dead animals being thrown there, which is why the support of UCundinamarca with its students was fundamental to carrying out a rigorous study that will allow the intervention of the Water Company.

Despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic and the suspension of some activities, the Environmental Engineering students were able to complete this project, which was presented a few days ago, obtaining the approval of the Company and the teachers who verified the process.

Fredy Duque, the teacher in charge of overseeing the biotic characterization process, indicated that "this type of characterization in the basin is very important from an environmental point of view, since it allows us to determine both the state of conservation of the resources, as well as the implementation of environmental management plans.".

“It is necessary to continue with this type of research in the Western Savannah, since there is a greater degree of ignorance about the ecological functioning of these high mountain rivers, especially since we obtain our drinking water from these ecosystems,” he concluded.

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