Expansión minera, déficit hídrico y crisis sanitaria. La potabilización del río Toconce y el impacto del arsenicismo en la población de la provincia de Antofagasta (1915-1971)

This article describes and analyzes the metallic and non-metallic mining processes promoted by US capital, which increased the demand and pressure towards scarce water resources in the Atacama Desert due to the innovation of its technical systems and the expansion of its production scales. We debate the measures taken in a context of scarcity and shortage of water for the population, and how these variables influenced that the brackish waters of the Toconce River were connected to the public drinking water matrix. The final decision produced unexpected consequences with disastrous results for the health of thousands of people, since these waters naturally possess high doses of arsenic, exceeding by 80 times the norm currently recommended by the World Health Organization for drinking water.