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Aging infrastructure, along with the escalating occurrence and severity of extreme weather events linked to climate change, and the growing demands of an increasing population, have placed significant strains on wastewater and stormwater systems. Consequently, there has been a rise in instances of Combined and Sanitary Sewer Overflows (CSOs and SSOs), among other related problems. These challenges have intensified the impact of sewershed issues on both society and the environment. Fortunately, recent advancements in technology, such as sophisticated sensor technologies, more powerful processors, and advanced mathematical modeling techniques, have opened up new possibilities for developing intelligent water systems in the United States that are capable of making well-informed, data driven decisions. While the technological capabilities of these tools are advancing, their application in the water sector is limited and often siloed. Water utilities face a variety of challenges related to digitalization of sewershed management and require a more structured approach for their digital transformation. This research aims to present a comprehensive framework called iWISE (Intelligent Water Infrastructure Systems Engineering) that will serve as a blueprint to facilitate the implementation of Intelligent Sewersheds for water utilities across the country. The proposed framework will focus on enhancing our understanding of various aspects, including system of systems thinking, data management, modeling techniques, decision-making processes, and service delivery, in order to adopt a more intelligent and efficient approach to managing sewersheds. This framework was piloted with small, medium and large scale utilities to capture feedback on the proposed building blocks from a real world perspective and the findings from these interviews reveal that most utilities are in the preliminary stages of intelligent water systems implementation, and is more common among large utilities as compared to their small and medium counterparts. / Master of Science / Water infrastructure in the United States is facing several challenges like the deterioration of infrastructure with time, increasing extreme weather events like flooding due to climate change, and growing population demands. These issues are putting a lot of pressure on wastewater and stormwater systems, leading to more instances of Combined and Sanitary Sewer Overflows (CSOs and SSOs) and other related problems that have significant negative impacts on both the society and the natural environment. Fortunately, recent advancements in technology like remote sensing, internet of things, increased computing power and advanced data analysis tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning, have provided opportunities for water utilities to improve their sewershed management practices. This research introduces a comprehensive framework called iWISE (Intelligent Water Infrastructure Systems Engineering) to help implement the new technologies and practices available for water utilities nationwide to improve the efficiency and reliability of sewershed management. The framework focuses on improving our understanding of different aspects like how a sewershed and its components are defined, collecting and managing data parameters, modeling techniques, decision-making, and service delivery. The framework was piloted with small, medium, and large scale utilities to get real-world feedback. The findings showed that most utilities are in the early stages of adopting intelligent water systems, and larger utilities are more likely to use these technologies compared to smaller ones.

The study examines the management of Legionella in the Swedish merchant fleet by mapping existing methods and proposing measures. Through a literature review and interviews with shipping company employees and industry experts, three research questions are analyzed: What are the most common preventive measures on board, common sanitation methods and how can these be made more efficient when it comes to eliminate Legionella. The results point to common methods such as UV irradiation and hot water flushing. The discussion highlights the reliability of the method and the industry's need for increased knowledge and clearer guidelines. The conclusions emphasize the need for measures such as Legionella filters, regular testing of fresh water, and long-term solutions focusing on the source of the problem, such as risk assessments. Education, awareness, and preventive measures are crucial for combating this hidden and costly problem in modern shipping.

Human senses for taste, odor, and visual assessment allow consumers to be selective when it comes to choosing their drinking water. In addition to wanting aesthetically pleasing water to drink, consumers want to know if their water is safe and may have misconceptions on what possible health risk contaminants could be lurking in their water supply. This thesis aimed to measure reaction of zerovalent nanoiron (nZVI) in water and human saliva, evaluate consumer's perceptions of taste, odor, and risk in their drinking water, and investigate the effectiveness of community water systems in communicating water quality information to their consumers. Since nZVI, including commercially available Nanofer 25S, is widely being used in water treatment processes and has future potential for use in fortifying foods, the exposure to these engineered nanoparticles will increase for humans and aquatic organisms. Thus, the first part of the thesis was to develop a quantitative analytical technique to measure the iron levels at environmentally relevant concentrations. Researchers developed a colorimetric assay using 1, 10-phenanthroline as an assay to determine the amount of ferrous ions produced from different iron materials, including ferrous(II)sulfate, nZVI, and goethite. Resulting ferrous ion measurements indicate that the maximum production of ferrous ions varied among the iron materials. Nanofer25S did not undergo 100% conversion to ferrous ions, as expected, goethite had no production of ferrous ions, and ferrous(II)sulfate was 100% ferrous ions. The total iron, as measured by atomic absorption for all iron materials were equal. The reactivity of these iron materials were also assessed in different water qualities ranging in salt concentrations. The capacity to produce ferrous ion did not change when added to nanopure water, tap water, and inorganic solution that is equivalent to the high ionic strength of saliva. Toxicology data for nZVI exposure to humans and aquatic organisms are limited. For that reason, authors of this manuscript measured salivary lipid oxidation (SLO) potential for the different iron materials in human saliva. They also developed an artificial saliva recipe to ensure repeatability and comparable results among laboratories due to human saliva's variability day by day. This simulated human saliva contained salts, proteins, and lipids. Using thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs), both Nanofer25S and ferrous(II)sulfate induced in-vitro SLO with human saliva. Goethite was unreactive. SLO results from this study have implications for flavor effects of nZVI in drinking water. The second chapter of this thesis is assessing the clarity of message communication of Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs). In 1998, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) mandated that community water systems (CWSs) provide annual water quality reports to their consumers. These CCRs summarize information regarding water sources, any detected contaminants, compliance with federal regulations, and educational information. Thirty CCRs across all ten USEPA regions were analyzed for clarity using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Clear Communication Index (CCI) tool. The analysis of these CCRs was a national representation of CWSs and revealed that currently distributed CCRs performed poorly on the CDC's CCI—all failing to meet the 90% passing mark. The overall average score for all CCRs was 50.3 ± 13.5%. The clarity scores were based on seven key areas: 1) Main message and call to action; 2) Language; 3) Information design; 4) State of the science; 5) Behavioral recommendations; 6) Numbers; and 7) Risk. Improvements in all seven areas—with the lowest average scores at 3.3 ± 18.1%, 21.7 ± 26.6%, and 37.7 ± 27.1%, respectively, for state of science, language, and main message and call to action—of the CCI will greatly improve the quality and educational capabilities of CCRs. The failing scores highlight the challenges facing CWSs in communicating water quality information. This assessment can serve as a tool for water utilities to effectively prepare and distribute information to their consumers in the future. CWSs must promote a two-way dialogue with their consumers. They should address consumer's concerns and wants in the CCRs, and they should also effectively communicate risks to the consumers so that they are not under the misconception that their water is unsafe to drink. CWSs should use the CCRs as a way to educate the public and promote drinking tap water. The last chapter of this thesis addresses the concerns that consumers may have about their drinking water and methods that could be implemented to quickly and efficiently respond to consumer complaints and contaminants with sensory properties. Just like CWSs, consumers are concerned about their water; they are the sentinels to water quality monitoring because they are uniquely positioned at the tap. Consumers are able to detect the slightest taste, odor, and appearance in their drinking water because it is well—instinctive! Thus, consumer feedback and complaint data provided to a utility should be taken seriously and stored for future comparisons. Any consumer complaint represents a fruitful data stream that should be harnessed routinely to gain knowledge about aesthetic water quality in the distribution system. Four utilities provided consumer complaints on water quality data that were categorized and visualized using radar and run-time plots. As a result, major taste, odor, and appearance patterns emerged that clarified the issue and could provide guidance to the utilities on the nature and extent of the problem. Consumer complaint data is valuable for water quality issue identification, but CWSs should understand that even though humans readily identify visual issues with water, such as color, cloudiness, or rust, describing specific tastes and particularly odors in drinking water is acknowledged to be a much more difficult task for humans to achieve without training. This was demonstrated with two utility groups, laboratory personnel and plant operators, and a group of consumers identifying the odor of orange, 2-MIB, and DMTS. All of the groups were able to identify the familiar orange odor. However, the two utility groups were much more able to identify the musty odor of 2-MIB; this may be due to the fact that the utility groups are more familiar with raw and finished water. DMTS, a garlic-onion odor associated with sulfur compounds in drinking water, was the least familiar to all three groups. The lab personnel group was the better describers of the odor, but the results within this group still varied significantly. These results suggest that utility personnel should be mindful of consumers who complain that their water is different, but cannot describe the problem. To reduce the inability to describe an odor or taste issue, a TandO program at a utility can be beneficial. The safety and aesthetic characteristics of drinking water is most important to consumers. They both complement each other; if consumers think their water tastes funny, they would probably assume that is unsafe to drink. Since nZVI is increasingly being introduced into the drinking water supply, researchers must be able to understand how it reacts in humans and the environment. Additionally, CCRs would be an effective method for CWSs to communicate water quality information and address any concerns consumers may have about their water. CWSs can use implement the radar and run-time plots to identify issues in the drinking water systems. Also, TandO programs will allow CWSs and their consumers to better describe and identify the issues in their drinking water as it arises so that it can be easily addressed and alleviated. Thus, promoting communication between water utilities and their consumers will improve the relationship and instill confidence in consumers about their drinking water. / Master of Science

Access to safe drinking water has a direct effect on improving human health and their quality of life. One country still struggling with providing access to safe drinking water to all of its population is Panama. Panama's largest indigenous group, the Ngöbe people, is disproportionately affected by lack of access to safe drinking water. One way Panama's Ministry of Health (MINSA) is attempting to increase access to safe drinking water to the Ngöbe people is by disinfecting the water already captured by rural gravity fed water systems constructed within in the Ngöbe-Bugle reservation. This is accomplished using an in-line chlorinator specifically designed to accommodate locally manufactured calcium hypochlorite tablets as a source of chlorine. However, in this study it was hypothesized that the current way MINSA is implementing the in-line chlorinator was ineffective both at educating communities on knowledge of chlorination and in chlorinating water in their water distribution systems. This study investigated MINSA's implementation method and then compared it to a new method of implementation that was based on a newly developed disinfection field guide created by the author of this thesis. The motivation of this study was to improve this process of implementation which could lead to more effective chlorination thereby decreasing illness caused by waterborne pathogens. Each implementation method investigated attempted to disseminate knowledge of chlorination to community members through a seminar. The MINSA seminar was presented by a MINSA health practitioner and a newly developed seminar was presented by this thesis's author. A survey was developed to assess the knowledge of chlorination of community members after they attended a seminar. Results showed that community members who attended the new seminar on average answered 20 of the 22 questions of the administered survey more correctly than community members attending the MINSA seminar. Additionally, based on the average correct response of community members to survey questions, participants in the new seminar answered more questions correctly compared to participants in the MINSA seminar in all sections of the survey, 32% greater in the "General Knowledge" section; 43% greater in the "MINSA Specific" section; and 36% greater over the total survey. This higher score by new seminar participants suggests that the new seminar is better at educating community members on knowledge of chlorination. An assessment of each implementation method to effectively chlorinate the studied community's water distribution systems was also completed. This was done by measuring the free chlorine residual of water leaving the studied community's storage tank and entering the distribution system over one week. These concentration values were multiplied by a calculated chlorine contact time of the studied system's distribution system to determine Ct values. Measured Ct values were compared to literature guidelines that provide information on what Ct values will kill commonly found waterborne pathogens in the region. Calculated Ct values above a critical literature value of 40.0 min-mg/L Cl2 were determined to be effectively chlorinating a system's water. Results showed that when using the MINSA implementation method the required Ct level of 40.0 min-mg/L Cl2 was never met at any time during the week. However when using the new implementation method, the required Ct level of 40.0 min-mg/L Cl2 was met at all points during the week except one when tested on the last day where the Ct value was found to be 35.9 min-mg/L Cl2. These results suggest the new implementation method is more effective at chlorinating rural gravity fed water systems in the region compared to the previous implementation method.

The effectiveness of Boil Water Advisories (BWAs) as a public health risk management tool is increasingly being questioned. Newfoundland and Labrador's zero-risk policy for issuing BWAs on public drinking water systems has resulted in over 210 active BWAs annually, the majority classified as long-term BWAs. BWAs are more likely to occur on small systems, in communities with low economic capacity, and in communities without a certified operator. No relationship was found relating confirmed cases of water-related illness to BWAs. Quantifiable health risk associated with BWAs was evaluated using Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA). Data on source water pathogen concentrations and epidemiological data was used to evaluate and calibrate the QMRA Model. The study demonstrated the application of QMRA in determining whether health risk warranted issuing a BWA. Eleven recommendations were made on how the province could adopt QMRA in establishing an alternative drinking water risk management and advisory framework.

<p>The World Health Organization reports 9% of the world’s population lack access to an improved drinking water source. Safe drinking water is a major global challenge, especially in rural areas where according to UNICEF 80% of those without access to improved water systems reside. While water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) related diseases and deaths are common outcomes of unsafe water, there is also an economic burden associated with unsafe water. These burdens are most prominent in rural areas in less developed nations. Slow sand filters (SSFs), or biological sand filters (BSF), are ideal water treatment solutions for these low resource regions. SSFs are the oldest municipal drinking water treatment system and improve water quality by removing suspended particles, dissolved organic chemicals, and other contaminants, effectively reducing turbidity and associated taste and odor problems. Removal of turbidity from the water enables the use of low-cost disinfection methods such as chlorination. While the working principles of slow sand filtration remained the same, the design, sizes and application of slow sand filters have been customized over the years. The first chapter of thesis reviews these adaptations and their performance on contaminant removal, and specifically addresses engineering aspects of slow sand filters that are not widely understood, even by those that implement SSFs in the field.</p> <p>The second and third chapters detail an SSF-based water treatment and monitoring system that seeks to provide portable water to rural schools and communities. Piping drinking water to remote rural areas from centralized treatment facilities requires huge capital investments. On the other hand, delivering drinking water by the less expensive point‐of‐use technologies often results in improper operation, and lack of proper documentation on water quality and usage.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The strategy documented in this research for addressing this problem is to produce drinking water at the point-of-use, and then establish and document drinking water quality through cellphone-based monitoring of this water. By doing both (point-of-use treatment and cellphone-based monitoring), we are effectively using to advantage the best of both worlds. Decentralized (point-of-use) water treatment systems can be deployed in rural communities to produce potable water. Integrating a cellphone-enabled colorimeter-turbidity meter (CT meter), developed as part of this research, into the water treatment system will provides water quality data to ensure public health safety. The integrated water system included slow sand filtration, chlorination, and phone-based monitoring (i.e., the CT meter). To establish larger-scale (thousands of schools) feasibility, pilot treatment systems were established in 3 rural schools in Kenya. This pilot network was established through the collaborative efforts of: (i) The research team at Purdue, (ii) MaJi Safi International (MSI), a Purdue related startup based in Eldoret, Kenya, and (iii) several western Kenya Schools.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The second chapter of details the design and testing of the CT meter at Purdue. The third chapter evaluates, through pilot field tests in Kenyan schools, the integrated water treatment and monitoring system for economic and technical viability. The CT meter performance was successful both in the lab and in the field. The water systems that were installed, used daily, and monitored with the CT meter, consistently produced portable water that met the local regulatory drinking water standards.</p>

Ce mémoire porte sur l’étude de deux réseaux d’eau distincts, soit celui de la ville d’Arthabaska et celui de la ville de Victoriaville. Nous souhaitons éclairer le rôle joué par les facteurs environnementaux, naturels et urbains, au cours du processus ayant mené à l’implantation de réseaux d’eau potable et d’eaux usées dans les deux villes à l’étude. Divers travaux ont traité de la mise en place des réseaux d’aqueduc et d’égout à la grandeur du Canada. Toutefois, ce sont essentiellement les grandes villes comme Montréal ou Toronto qui ont retenu l’attention de l’histoire urbaine, politique et environnementale canadienne. L’objectif de cette démarche consiste à montrer que le milieu physique rural doit être incorporé à l’analyse comme élément vivant qui se transforme, qui influence et qui est influencé à son tour par l’être humain, puisqu’un et l’autre sont en constante interaction. Nous soutenons que la mise en place et le développement de réseaux d’eau sont influencés par le territoire dans lequel ils sont implantés et qu’ils ne peuvent pas être correctement analysés sans celui-ci. Afin de mettre l’espace au cœur de l’étude, nous avons mené une analyse des villes d’Arthabaska et de Victoriaville en considérant la géographie de la région à l’aide des cartes et des plans d’assurance-incendie, en plus de consulter des documents officiels et des articles tirés des journaux locaux. / This thesis focuses on the study of two separate water systems, namely that of city of Arthabaska and city of Victoriaville. We wish to clarify the role of natural and urban environmental factors in the process that led to the establishment of drinking water and wastewater systems in the two cities under consideration. Various studies have dealt with the implantation of waterworks and sewer systems across the country. However, it is mainly the large cities such as Montreal and Toronto that have caught the attention of the canadian political, urban, and environmental history. The objective of this approach is to show that the natural physical environment must be incorporated into the analysis as a living element that transforms, which influences and is influenced in turn by humans, since both are in constant interaction. We argue that the establishment and development of water systems are influenced by the territory in which they operate and they can not be correctly analyzed otherwise. To put the surroundings in the heart of the study, we conducted an analysis of city of Arthabaska and city of Victoriaville considering the geography of the area using maps and fire insurance plans, in addition to the analysis of official documents and articles from local newspapers.

O adensamento populacional que as metrópoles vivenciam contribui para reduzir a disponibilidade específica de água, medida em m³/hab.ano. Adicionalmente a este evento, quando o crescimento urbano ocorre de forma não planejada, isso impacta também a qualidade dos mananciais. Esses dois efeitos ocorrem de forma combinada, sobretudo na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo (RMSP). Como consequência observam-se opções de ampliação da capacidade de produção de água potável sucessivamente mais custosas, seja por processos mais caros para o tratamento de um manancial mais poluído, próximo ao centro consumidor, seja pela maior distância de um manancial não poluído, e maiores custos com obras, como ocorre atualmente na implantação do Sistema Produtor São Lourenço (SPSL). Esse processo de encarecimento das opções para ampliação do sistema centralizado de produção de água potável persistirá na RMSP, conforme a população continue a aumentar nas próximas décadas. Existem fontes alternativas com disponibilidade satisfatória, como a água residuária, que quando adequadamente tratadas, podem ser direcionadas para usos que não demandam água potável. Essa possibilidade tem sido aproveitada de forma crescente pelo mercado imobiliário em edifícios, através da instalação de sistemas prediais de água não potável (SPANP), e há diferentes tecnologias disponíveis se consolidando com custos em tendência de queda. Nesse contexto, o objetivo da pesquisa é formular um modelo matemático de tomada de decisão para verificar se a utilização de SPANP são viáveis em relação à implantação do SPSL. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, realizou-se revisão bibliográfica para avaliar as experiências de implantação de SPANP com fonte de águas cinzas em diferentes localidades, bem como para estabelecer a comparação de produção de água potável em macroescala em relação à produção de água não potável em microescala. Foram coletados dados quanto aos custos de construção, operação e manutenção de um SPANP em operação em um edifício na RMSP, e o mesmo para o SPSL. Por meio dos princípios da Programação Inteira, foi formulado um modelo para a indicação de qual opção de sistema apresenta o menor custo total acumulado durante os 20 primeiros anos de operação. Foram simulados cinco cenários com a alteração das principais variáveis que influenciam o comportamento da viabilidade das opções, sendo que as simulações foram realizadas com o uso do software LINDOTM. Em quatro dos cinco cenários simulados, o SPSL foi a opção de menor custo acumulado no 20o ano de operação, indicando a maior probabilidade do mesmo ser a opção de implantação mais econômica no presente. No entanto, devido à tendência de encarecimento das alternativas de ampliação do sistema centralizado de produção de água potável e de redução de custos dos SPANP, essa conclusão não pode ser adotada automaticamente quanto ao próximo sistema centralizado de água potável planejado para ser implantado. / The population agglomeration phenomenon that the metropolises pass through, reduces the water availability measured by the indicator m³/hab.year. Additionally, when urban growth happen in an unplanned way, it also impacts the quality of the water sources. These two effects occur in a combined way, especially in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region (SPMR). As a consequence, the options for expanding the production capacity of drinking water are successively more costly, either by more expensive processes for the treatment of a more polluted source, near the consumer center, or by the larger distance of an unpolluted source, and higer costs with construction, as it is currently happening in the implementation of the São Lourenço Producer System (SLPS). The process that is turning expensive the options for expanding the centralized drinking water system will persist in the SPMR as the population continues to increase in the coming decades. There are alternative sources with satisfactory availability, such as wastewater, which when properly treated, can be directed to uses that do not require potable water. This possibility has been used more and more by the real estate market in buildings, through the installation of non-potable water systems (NPWS), and there are different technologies available in consolidation with falling costs. Thus, the objective of the research is to formulate a mathematical decision making model to verify if the use of NPWS are viable in relation to the implementation of the SLPS. For the development of the research, a bibliographical review was carried out to evaluate the experiences of implementation of NPWS with source of gray water in different localities, as well as to establish the comparison of production of drinking water in macro scale in relation to the production of non-potable water in micro scale. Data were collected on the costs of construction, operation and maintenance of NPWS in a building in the SPMR, and the same for SLPS. Through the principles of Integer Programming, a model was formulated to indicate which system option has the lowest accumulated total cost during the first 20 years of operation. Five scenarios were simulated with the change of the main variables that influence the viability behavior of the options, the simulations were performed using LINDOTM software. In four of the five simulated scenarios, SLPS was the lowest accumulated cost option in the 20th year of operation, indicating that it is more likely to be the most economical deployment option in the present. However, due to the rising cost of alternatives for the expansion of the centralized drinking water production system and the cost reduction of NPWSs, this conclusion cannot be automatically adopted for the next centralized drinking water system planned to be implemented.

O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido para compor um modelo de educação ambiental no Jardim Botânico do Estado de São Paulo, localizado no Parque Estadual Fontes do Ipiranga (PEFI). Devido ao seu propósito educacional, o projeto educativo foi desenvolvido com o apoio de dois professores do ensino básico e de pesquisadores do Núcleo de Educação Ambiental do Jardim Botânico do Estado de São Paulo e das Seções de Ecologia e Ficologia do Instituto de Botânica. O modelo considerou quatro sistemas hídricos do PEFI, a Nascente do Riacho do Ipiranga e os Lagos do Jardim Botânico \"Nascentes, Ninféias e Bugios\", como base para a construção de instrumentos ordenadores de visitas monitoradas de professores do ensino básico e seus alunos ao Jardim Botânico. Como base do projeto, abordou-se o tema meio ambiente como transversal às disciplinas clássicas do sistema educacional brasileiro e empreenderam-se as ações do projeto através do conhecimento de diferentes profissionais sobre o meio ambiente que compuseram o grupo de trabalho e, ao mesmo, buscou-se integrar as ações às reais necessidades dos docentes do Ensino Básico. Nesse sentido, foi essencial a participação dos dois professores de escolas do entorno do Jardim Botânico nas etapas organizacionais do projeto. A caracterização da área de estudo baseou-se em seus aspectos históricos e físicos, bem como na qualidade sanitária dos corpos aquáticos considerados. As determinações físicas-químicas e microbiológicas revelaram uma condição sanitária satisfatória das águas, contudo os valores de coliformes fecais e totais encontrados nos lagos sugerem contaminação de origem animal, comum à região. A produtividade primária também foi determinada para cada corpo aquático, encontrando-se baixos valores de clorofila a nos três lagos e na nascente. Os tipos de algas microscópicas observadas foram os gêneros Chrysochromulina, Ankistrodesmus, Scenedesmus, Cosmarium, Navicula, Eunotia, Cryptomonas, Closterium, Gomphonema, Pinnularia, Pleurotaenium, Arthrospira, Oedogonium, Euastrum, Monoraphidium, Staurastrum, Pleurotaenium, Mallomonas e Chlamydomonas. De acordo com a tabela Carlson (Índice de Estado Trófico) a Nascente e o Lago das Nascentes são considerados oligotróficos, enquanto que o Lago dos Bugios e o das Ninféias, mesotróficos. A primeira ação do projeto, um curso teórico-prático, buscou-se integrar os professores do ensino básico em temas relacionados ao meio ambiente, particularmente naqueles de maior relevância aos profissionais atuantes no Jardim Botânico. Posteriormente, os professores participaram de ações para formatação de instrumentos educativos para visitação monitorada ao jardim, que resultaram na elaboração de um manual de visitação do professor, contendo um mapa da área de visitação e explicações de placas sinalizadoras. Para o núcleo de educação ambiental do Jardim Botânico foi disponibilizada a estrutura básica de um curso de capacitação de professores do ensino básico em temas sobre o meio ambiente, bem como a documentação fotográfica da área estudada, os critérios para a admissão de visita monitorada e os procedimentos para adequação do local da Nascente do Riacho do Ipiranga à visitação pública. Finalmente, deve-se ressaltar que o tema escolhido para a realização dessa dissertação de mestrado foi originado da percepção dos pesquisadores do Instituto de Botânica em destacar a importância do Jardim Botânico através de seus sistemas hídricos, e como poderiam ser utilizados como instrumento educativo nas escolas de São Paulo. Nesse sentido, optou-se por enriquecer o clássico foco dado aos jardins botânicos em todo o mundo, no qual a maioria dos visitantes apenas observa a vegetação local e exótica. Assim, pode-se afirmar que o trabalho empreendido se constituirá em uma contribuição ao professor com a missão de inserir a dimensão ambiental nas mais variadas disciplinas do ensino básico. / The present work was developed to make up a model of environmental education at the botanical garden in São Paulo state, located at Parque Estadual Fontes do Ipiranga (PEFI). Due to the educational purpose, the project was developed with the support of two teachers of basic teaching and with researchers from Nucleo de Educação Ambiental of Botanical Garden of São Paulo state and the Section of Ecology and Phycology of Botanical Institute. The pattern considered four hybrid systems of PEFI: the source of Riacho do Ipiranga and the lakes of Nascentes, Ninféias and Bugios as basis for the making of order instruments to monitor the visits of teachers of Basic Teaching and their students to the botanical garden. As a base for the project, the environmental theme was broached as transversal to the classical subjects of the Brazilian Teaching System and the actions of the project were undertaken through the knowledge of different professionals about the environment that took part of the working group and, to the same work, it was tried the integration of actions to the real needs of the Teaching Staff of Basic Teaching. That way, the participation of two teachers from schools was essential around the Botanical Garden to organize the steps of the project. The studies of the area characterization were based in its historical and physical aspects such as sanitary quality of aquatic bodies that were considered. The physical-chemical and microbiological determination showed a satisfactory sanitary condition of the water, however, the total fecal coliform values found in the lakes suggest contamination of animal origin common in the region. The primary productivity was also determined for each aquatic body finding low chlorophyll values a in the three lakes and in the source. The kind of microscopical algae observed were Crysochromulina, Ankistrodemus, Scenesdemus, Cosmarium, Navicula, Eunotia, Cryptomonas, Closterium, Gomphonema, Pinnularia, Pleuroteanium, Arthrospira, Oedogonium, Euastrum, Monoraphidium, Mallomonas and Chlamydomonas kinds. According to Carlson\'s chart (Indice de Estado Trófico), the Nascente and the Lago das Nascentes are considered oligotrophic, while Bugios and Ninféias lakes are mesotrophic ones. The first project, a theoric-practical course, tried the integration of basic teaching teachers on themes related to the environment, particulary the ones of greater relevance to the professionals of the botanical garden. Afterwards, the teachers took part in the actions to form educative instruments for monitored visits to the Garden, what turned out into an elaboration of a teachers\' visit manual, which has a map of the area to be visited with explanations and sign boards. A course, to prepare Basic Education teachers on themes about the environment, was prepared for the nucleo de educação ambiental of the botanical garden which has photos and documents about the area which was researched, also, the criteria for the monitored visit and procedures to suit the Nascente do Riacho do Ipiranga for public visits. Finally, we must emphasize that the chosen theme for the achievement of this Master Essay had its origin from the understanding of the researchers at the Instituto de Botanica in outstanding the importance of the botanical garden through its hydric systems, and how they could be used as educational instrument in schools in São Paulo. This way, it was chosen to enrich the classical focus given to the botanical gardens all over the world, where most of visitors only watch the exotic and local vegetation. This way, we can say that the work that was done will be a contribution to the teacher with the purpose of inserting an environmental dimension in the varied subjects of the basic teaching.