MONITORING OF THE DRINA RIVER QUALITY IN THE CITY OF GORAŽDE

Abstract

Surface water quality is a variable value that depends on the impact of many factors. The Drina River Quality Testing was one of the main motives for writing this paper. In order to get as complete and accurate insight into the water quality as possible, the monitoring lasted for two months (April-May). Sampling was carried out in five locations on the territory of the municipality of Gorazde over the given time intervals, at the hydrological station, 500 and 1000 meters downstream and 500 and 1000 meters upstream of it. The monitoring was carried out to determine the content of heavy metals: Pb, Cd, Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, and selected alkali and alkaline earth metals: K, Na, Mg, and Ca.  In order to complement the analysis, basic physical and chemical parameters of the water quality were also monitored: temperature, conductivity, redox potential, pH value and dry residue. The experiment was carried out in the Chemistry Laboratory at the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences in Sarajevo.  
Despite numerous attempts to disturb the Drina River’s recognizable quality, the measured parameters did not show significant chemical contamination. The measured parameters should be broaden in the future in order to include organic pollutants too.