This study deals with the chemical quality of water samples taken from manually constructed wells with depths between two to nine meters. Almost all well-waters are used for consumption as drinking and irrigation water, especially during dry season. The wells are located around the Poopo Lake, situated in the central part of the Bolivian Altiplano (BA). The wells are mostly shallow and ontaminated by arsenic (As) and other trace metals from natural and anthropogenic sources. The north east side of the lake is a semiarid area where strong mining activities are carried out since last century. The west south side of the lake is an arid area where agricultural and cattle activities are carried out. Due the mining and geothermal sources, rivers, soils and some wells in the semiarid area are polluted by trace metals. Few rivers in the arid area are seasonally used for irrigation and become scarce or disappear before reaching the lake and many wells become dry as well. Detailed hydrochemical analyses of the well waters around the Poopo Lake reveal elevated As concentrations in almost all wells in the region.
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