This study presents concentrations and loads of nitrate and total inorganic phosphate in surface runoff infiltrating water and subsurface flow in the basin of Ribeirao Concordia, Lontras, SC - Brazil . Over a 109-day period, 102 samples were collected from three river sections, three lysimeters and three piezometric wells in the interior of the basin. Concentrations were compared with the standards given in the CONAMA Resolutions 357/2005 and 420/2009. Concentrations of nitrate and phosphate in lysimeter drainage water and flows were greater than those in river sections and piezometric wells. In the river sections and in surface flow from the lysimeter under pasture, nitrate concentrations were lower than the benchmarks set for such waters. Phosphate concentrations in the river sections and in both lysimeter surface runoff and in drainage water, and in the piezometers, all exceeded the standards defined in CONAMA Resolutions 357/2005 and 420/2009. Drainage waters in the lysimeters transported nitrate and phosphate loads greater than those in surface runoff, which in turn transported loads of the same order of magnitude as in river flow.
water quality; environmental monitoring; nutrient flux; agricultural basin
