COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN THE DNIESTER AND PRUT RIVERS

Objectives. In the Republic of Moldova, the supply of the population with drinking water from surface sources, is ensured, mainly, from the hydrographic basins of the Dniester and Prut rivers, where the water quality varies a lot. The aim of the study was the comparative hygienic evaluation of water quality in the Dniester and Prut rivers.

Materials and methods. In 2019 were investigated 162 water samples, from the fixed points along the Dniester and Prut rivers, at the sanitary-hygienic and microbiological indicators. In the study were used hygienic, statistical, descriptive and analytical methods.

Results. According to the results of laboratory investigations of water quality from surface aquatic sources, there is a decrease in the number of results attributed to class I (very good) water quality and a considerable increase in the number of results attributed to class IV (polluted) and class V (very polluted). For the Nistru district, the share of samples at the sanitary-chemical parameters assigned to the quality class I, for 2019, is 7%, compared to 23% in 2018. Also, for the Prut district, there is a decrease of the samples assigned to the class I, from 30% in 2018 to 9% in 2019 and an increase of the samples assigned to class IV from 9% in 2018, to 39% in 2019. In the case of microbiological parameters, the same legitimacy is found.

Conclusion. There has been a dizzying decrease in the quality of surface water in these two rivers, due to anthropogenic pollution with untreated or partially treated wastewater.